45 ‘Even more enthused’ Maria Vachapittack’s path differs from her younger colleagues. Her academic career started at the University of Nebraska, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in theater. At 25, while she was pregnant with her first child, she became enchanted with medicine. “My doctor asked me what I wanted to do with my theater degrees. With deadpan humor, I said ‘go into medicine,’ ” she says. “I was very serious, though, and decided to give up a regular paycheck and follow my gut and heart and go into science. “It is a gamble that has paid off.” At OSU, she is working on a degree in university studies. This summer in Muskogee, Okla., Vachapittack externed with Dr. Michael Stratton of the Children’s Clinic, doing morning rounds and attending Oklahoma State Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control Commission meetings, where Stratton is a member. “I was impressed by the depth of knowledge Dr. Stratton possesses, his kindness and warmth toward patients and his good nature,” Vachapittack says. “He’s a great physician.” Vachappittack admits she loves getting a jumpstart on medical school. “Who wouldn’t jump on this opportunity? I have a lot of higher education, and I wanted to get into the classes that I would really use as a doctor,” the 27-year-old says. “OSU’s early admission program helped that decision, but both my husband and I have really fallen for Oklahoma’s charm. I’m drawn to the beauty of the land here.” Maria Vachapittack She’s also drawn to medicine — rural, to be specific. “There’s an extreme need for doctors in this area of medicine and in Oklahoma. I was overjoyed when the OSU Center for Health Sciences came to Stillwater with the news of this early admissions program. “I would never take back this decision, and I bet if you talk with me in a year, I’ll be even more gung ho and even more enthused. I love people, and being a doctor seems the perfect choice for me.” “I would never take back this decision, and I bet i f you talk wi th me in a year, I ’ l l be even more gung ho and even more enthused.”
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