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Casey Bryant '04 graduated with a M.D. from Eastern VA Medical School. |
What do magic tricks, football and the liberal arts have in common? All three played a role in Casey Bryant’s decision to become a doctor.
“When I was growing up I had a fantastic family physician, Dr. Dennis Burns, who used magic tricks—such as pretending to pull plastic bugs out of my ears during an examination—in order to calm my fears,” says Bryant. “As I got older I wanted to emulate him, and that led me to pursue a career in medicine.”
Bryant, who hails from Madison Heights, Virginia—“an area affectionately known to locals as Hog Town,” he quips—touched down in Ashland for the first time as a
football recruit.
“After my dreams of being drafted right out of high school to play in the NFL fell through, I began looking for a place where I could continue playing football while pursuing a liberal arts education,” says Bryant, who played defensive tackle for four years and was voted team captain his senior year. “In addition, I was looking for a college with a reputation for being exceptional in the sciences, and after my scholarship meeting with Biology Professor Jim Foster I knew that Randolph-Macon was a perfect fit.”
Bryant planned to major in
biology, but a helpful nudge by Chemistry Professor Serge Schreiner added another major to the mix.
“The choice to major in biology was made in conjunction with my wonderful advisor, Biology Professor Emeritus Art Conway, as a result of my interests and the conventional wisdom at the time that you majored in biology in order to be accepted into medical school,” explains Bryant. “The addition of a
chemistry major was the result of Professor Schreiner’s advice. I had a much larger course load as a result! But in all seriousness, it was a fantastic decision that broadened my knowledge and undoubtedly helped me gain acceptance into medical school.”
On May 19, 2012, Bryant graduated with a M.D. from Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia. At the ceremony he was presented the Excellence in Emergency Medicine Award, which is given annually by the school’s Emergency Medicine faculty to a graduating student who demonstrates outstanding achievement in that field. Also selected into the Alpha Omega Alpha and Gold Humanism Honor Societies, he says his four years in medical school were grueling, but well worth the effort.
“I couldn’t have done it without the support of my wife, Jane Taylor Bryant,” he says. “Despite having her own career to focus on, she was always there to help put the stresses of medical school into proper perspective. I also benefited greatly from her phenomenal cooking, while many of my classmates survived on Ramen noodles and hospital food.”
In July 2012 Bryant began a three-year Emergency Medicine residency training program at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
“After that, I see myself pursuing fellowship training in some area of interest such as Critical Care Medicine,” says Bryant. “Ultimately, I want to combine teaching and a clinical practice.”
Med school left little time for anything else, but Bryant has made it back to campus several times to speak to R-MC
pre-health students. He often tags along with Dr. Ed Lilly ’64 during his visits.
“I also attend a couple of football games a year with Taylor and our loveable pit bull, Buddy,” he says. “It was great watching the team defeat Hampden-Sydney last year. The
new facilities are going to be a real asset and Coach Arruza has done a wonderful job with the program. I’m sure the best is yet to come. Go Jackets!”
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