Joseph Malone
1. What made you want to get your MD degree at WVU?
I wanted to stay close to home. Also WVU had the early decision program, so I decided to apply for it.
2. What made the program so appealing?
There was a scholarship involved with the early decision application. I also liked the community service requirement the School of Medicine has. I feel that physicians should be involved in the community that way.
3. What is your favorite part of the program?
I like how medical school is more like high school in that the students have more structured time and the faculty really wants to help you. You also have close ties to them with the smaller group setting. There is also more camaraderie within the class than when I was an undergraduate.
4. What made you want to become a doctor?
I think medicine combines scientific curiosity with a need of helping others. I really like that. It also reflects the "love thy neighbor" aspect of Christianity.
5. How do you balance home, school, and a social life?
To be honest I'm not sure i have a balance. Studying is about 90% of my time, and exercising or reading is the rest of it.
6. What do you think about the schools community service requirement?
I think it is an excellent idea. I think that it is important for doctors to know what is going on in the community. They need to be involved in all aspects of the local community to better serve the public. I am involved in HSTA and my Church. This summer i will serve as a HSTA mentor to help students interpret basic lab data. I have been involved in my churches clothing ministry. I will also be teaching the trumpet section for my high school's band camp.
7. The program had a week long orientation before classes started. What did you think of that?
I liked it. It was good to be able to meet everyone before classes started. It layed my fears to rest when the deans told me how classes would be organized. The best part was the new skills at camp up at Coopers Rock. We got to meet the professors in a more informal setting along with our classmates. I did hiking and photography as my two new skills.
8. What are your goals after graduating?
Right now I would like to be OB/GYN (obstetrics and gynecology) with an emphasis in reproductive endocrinology. I would like to help infertile couples have children. I have been interested in that since my class had a lecture on it, and since then I have been fascinated with it. I am really looking forward to doing more clinical OB work during our third year rotations.
9. What is your favorite thing to do outside of school?
I love to read history, biographies, fantasies and science fiction. It is nice to take a break and enter another world and time for awhile, like Westeros or Middle-Earth.
10. Do you have any advice for anyone thinking about medical school?
You have to really want this. It is not something you decide to do out of the blue. You have to have the passion for medicine. There is too much work and time if you do not have the passion.
11. Are you involved in any organizations?
I am the president of the OB/GYN interest group and we have organized events where medical students go into the floor and watch deliveries. I am hoping to practice in the STEP simulation center too with the group, such as a laparoscopy simulation. I also just got selected as a PALS tutor so I am excited to start that this fall.
12. What did you decide to do during the summer between your first and second year of medical school?
I am doing a family medicine externship back in Clarksburg. It is a wonderful experience and I would recommend it to anyone. I have learned more in that externship than I did the first year on how doctors function on a daily basis.
- Interviewed summer of 2014 (beginning the MS2 curriculum)