Kennedy Wolfe
1. What made you want to get your MD degree at WVU?
I applied on a whim. I had no connection to West Virginia. A friend of mine from Ultimate Frisbee mentioned WVU so I put it on the list and got an interview. I like it here, I’ve made it my own and it could not have been any better.
2. What made the program so appealing?
The location of WVU. West Virginia is beautiful and in the mountains. The program does a great job of exposure to different types of medicine and has great mentors.
3. What is your favorite part of the program?
I like the integrated second year. If we were talking about cardiovascular in one class everything else corresponded to it. I didn’t realize that it was not like that everywhere, so I like that WVU does this.
4. What makes your two clinical years at Charleston so unique from Morgantown and Eastern?
There are not as many residents and fellows so we get more hands on contact with patients. I also like the city of Charleston.
5. What made you want to become a doctor?
I have not always wanted to be a doctor. I did not really know what I wanted to do so I took a few years off. I wanted to help people and in medicine not only are you helping people you get to be a teacher and an academic for your entire life.
6. How do you balance your home, school, and social life?
School comes first, but I’m close with my family and I call them a lot. Exercise is important and I try and do some sort of recreation 4 times a week. If you want to make time for something you can. You find a way for it to work. You are tight on time, but you can make it happen.
7. How did spending time in Spain teaching English and teaching Spanish in North Carolina (middle school) help you with medical school?
I always wanted to become fluent in Spanish so living there and teaching English was great. Everyone should travel by themselves in their 20’s. It was good and not always easy, but you are exposed to other people. Understanding people better will help me in my clinical years. I like teaching and hopefully I can continue to do that in my later years as a physician.
8. What do you think about the school's community service requirements?
It is great! The opportunity is great because you get sucked into what you have to do for medical school and this allows you to see others in their environment. 100 hours of service is very doable.
9. Just before your third year started in Charleston you had an orientation to this campus. What did you think of that?
It was four days. They went over the three different computer systems that we use. They did our BLS, badges, and so on. We got a tour of Charleston and were shown different places. That was the best part, getting to see the city.
10. What are your goals after graduating?
I’m not sure what kind of doctor I want to be. I’m hopeful that 3rd year will give me an idea of what I am passionate about and what I am not passionate about.
11. What is your favorite thing to do outside of school?
I like to play ultimate Frisbee, run, and play disc golf.
12. Do you have any advice for anyone thinking about medical school?
Have fun before you start medical school. If you want to go, you will go. I recommend a year or two off to do something else. Medicine will still be there in a few years. Relax and enjoy life.
- Interviewed summer of 2015