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Program
M.D., Year I
Rural Primary Care Track - Mountain City
Hometown
Knoxville, TN
Undergraduate School and Major
Furman University
Philosophy
Specialty/Career Plans
Family Practitioner, work in rural areas and third
world countries
Extracurricular Activities
Rock climbing, trail running, backpacking,
reading, playing the banjo
Marital Status
Single, in a relationship
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TJ Seneker
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TJ.
Why Quillen
I love the region and being in the mountains. I
was particularly interested in the rural primary care tract
and impressed by the fact that Quillen ranks so highly for
rural medicine. It felt like a relaxed and tight knit
community when I visited for my interview. Most
importantly, their approach to teaching medicine and
mission as a school is in line with my philosophy of
focusing on the underserved populations in health care.
Words of Wisdom
Do your research, but I would go to the school that you
feel most comfortable with. Some place where you think you
could be happy, because why would you want to be miserable
and be in medical school at the same time, that's a rough
combination. It is important to know what you value before
choosing. Do you have to have a Marble Slab Creamery or
will TCBY be sufficient? Medical school is more work than
you can imagine, so think about what kind of support you
will have in different places, be it family, friends, or
faculty, because you can't do it alone. Try to think about
what kind of doctor you want to be, not just specialties,
but what kind of person who just so happens to be a doctor.
There are differences in the philosophies of medical
schools about training doctors for specialties, but also
for the whole humanity thing. I urge to consider both.
Life Outside the Classroom
It is certainly tough finding a balance between school work
and extracurricular activities. For me, getting outside and
exercising is very important. Luckily, there is a lot of
that close by in Johnson City. No matter how much work I
need to do, scheduling in healthy break times is critical,
so I may sacrifice an hour or two a day from studying to go
for a run in the mountains, but it is worth it for both my
physical and mental health. I also really enjoy hanging out
with my fellow classmates outside of school, just going
over to people's houses or apartments and having dinner or
watching a movie. In reality there is not much free time
outside of school, but it is definitely easy to relax and
have fun in your limited time.
Being a Quillen student
There is definitely a family atmosphere at Quillen. With
only 60 students, everyone gets to know each other well and
you can always get help from professors or staff. Among
students, it is not a cut throat competitiveness; everyone
wants to see each other do well. We share useful study
guides that individuals make available to the whole class
via email and there is always someone to study with be it
anatomy or genetics. Despite the amount work that has to be
done, medical school is still a lot of fun. We go out to
eat together, have parties, play intramural sports, and
laugh a lot.
Living in NE TN
Like I said the mountains are great. Everything cool in NC
like Asheville and skiing is only about one hour away.
There is excellent hiking and mountain biking even closer.
In actuality, Johnson City itself does not have a whole lot
to offer as a city. There are some good restaurants and a
few places to see live music, but ETSU also brings in
interesting events and shows. Overall, it’s a pretty
typical small southern city, which includes a slower pace
of life and friendly people, but perhaps not the excitement
of big metro areas. Yet, it is a cheap place to live.
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