VUSM Student Stories

When a high school injury derailed his future plans, Sam WiseCarver found a path to Vanderbilt by Lexie Little Standing in his biology classroom at Science Hill High School in Johnson City, Tennessee, a 17-year-old Samuel WiseCarver thought more about soccer practice after school than the Punnett squares in his… Read More

An undergraduate experience through Vanderbilt’s Summer Science Academy prompted M1 Derek Riffert to return for medical school by Lexie Little M1 Derek Riffert shares a first name with his hero, Derek Jeter. As a kid in West Lafayette, Indiana, he watched the five-time World Series champion lead the New York… Read More

by Lexie Little When William Quach (MD ’23) arrived at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine after studying biology at the University of California San Diego, he brought research experience with him. Quach, an aspiring anesthesiologist, examined how a specific protein traditionally known to play a role in the death… Read More

Family bonds strengthen at VUSM for two students, one alumna by Lexie Little Claire and Brie at Brie’s Match Day Google “White-Dzuro M.D. Vanderbilt” and three names will appear: Gabrielle (Brie), an anesthesiology resident at Massachusetts General Hospital; Colin, a fourth-year medical student; and Claire, a first-year medical student. Each… Read More

by Lexie Little As 1st Lt. Gunther Wong crouched behind a dusty wall in Afghanistan in 2016, a career in medicine didn’t pop up on his radar. However, as he reflected on the civilian needs he observed, he set his sights on applying the values and discipline he gained in… Read More

by David Cohen  Rachael Jameson Master of Public Health ’22 conducted a practicum with the Tennessee Department of Health in the Office of Strategic Initiatives (OSI) with Vanderbilt MPH alumnus JW Randolph, (MPH ’18) who serves as the Assistant director. Jameson’s practicum work evaluated Tennessee’s policies around adverse… Read More

by Lexie Little M1 students Sean Luong and Natalie Jones commit to service as officer-physicians When Lt. Col. Will Hansen officially retired from the U.S. Army on Sept. 1, 2019, he stashed his uniform in the closet not knowing light outside would ever reach its stitching for a military reason… Read More