{"id":121075,"date":"2022-03-22T10:21:07","date_gmt":"2022-03-22T14:21:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=121075"},"modified":"2023-08-08T10:43:24","modified_gmt":"2023-08-08T14:43:24","slug":"medical-attention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2022\/03\/22\/medical-attention\/","title":{"rendered":"Medical attention"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Weilong Wang, an Army Reserve soldier and a first-year student at the Wright State Boonshoft School of Medicine, and other medical students spend all of their time outside of class studying in the Veteran and Military Center. (Photos by Erin Pence)<\/p><\/div>\n

Scrawled in red, green and black on a whiteboard in the Wright State University Veteran and Military Center are equations and chemical formulas relating to diuretic medicines.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the work of a study group of medical students organized by Weilong Wang, an Army Reserve soldier and a first-year medical student at the Wright State Boonshoft School of Medicine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wang and his fellow medical students spend a lot of time at the VMC \u2014 a lot of time. They are often there from sunup to sundown because they find it such a perfect study space.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can see how hard they\u2019re working,\u201d said Seth Gordon, Ph.D., director of the VMC. \u201cHaving that energy in here just creates a more academic space.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Veteran and Military Center<\/a>, which opened in 2014, sits at the intersection of Allyn and Millett Halls and features a stone fa\u00e7ade with large bronze medallions representing each branch of the U.S. armed services.<\/p>\n

With 4,500 square feet and about 1,800 feet dedicated specifically for a student center, the Veteran and Military Center is designed to be a space where veteran and military students can get the support they need to process their benefits, but also relax and study in a place where they can mix with fellow veterans.<\/p>\n

Gordon said the VMC is designed to create a sense of belonging, camaraderie and community, which in turn results in academic success.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so proud of the space we\u2019ve designed \u2014 the flow of the way it works, the space for people to learn,\u201d he said. \u201cI think that is special.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wang learned about the VMC from a fellow medical student and Navy veteran who recommended it.<\/p>\n

Wang said he loves to study at the center because it is a quiet space, is open around the clock, he can hold group study sessions with other medical students, and he is embraced and supported by the veterans and staff at the Veteran and Military Center.<\/p>\n

He often arrives at the VMC at 8 a.m. and doesn\u2019t depart until 9 p.m., leaving only for classes and meals. He is often joined by four or five other medical students and sometimes as many as 10. Some, but not all, are military veterans.<\/p>\n

Wang\u2019s fellow medical students said the center is spacious, quiet, comfortable, airy, welcoming and provides an environment that helps them to focus on their studies, exchange ideas and bond as a group.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Will needed to bring his friends in because they were going to make him succeed, then my attitude was bring them all,\u201d said Gordon. \u201cMy job is to help veterans be successful. I know veterans aren\u2019t successful alone. If they have a group, I\u2019m going to support the whole group.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Weilong Wang and his fellow medical students are often in the Veteran and Military Center from sunup to sundown because they find it such a perfect study space.<\/p><\/div>\n

Wang grew up in Wuhan, China, in a working-class family. He said his grandfather suffered from dementia and had a serious stroke that put him into a coma.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe final days of his life were just terrible,\u201d said Wang. \u201cMy parents always tried to make me a strong person. But I still remember the moment I saw a bunch of nurses and doctors in the room who tried to bring my grandfather back from the coma. It was just scary. I almost wept. I just ran out of the room. The image is still there. It\u2019s very difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

The experience helped reinforce Wang\u2019s desire to become a physician.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always wanted to become a doctor,\u201d he said. \u201cI want to bring value to other people\u2019s lives. That\u2019s a way to live for me. And I always liked science and chemistry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wang earned his bachelor\u2019s degree in bioengineering in China and then in 2011 came to the United States, where he received his master\u2019s degree in bioengineering at the University of Dayton.<\/p>\n

In 2014, he moved to New York City to do some \u201csoul-searching\u201d and try to decide if he still wanted to pursue medicine. He sold stationery before landing a job in a medical lab as a technician.<\/p>\n

Wang decided he still wanted to go to medical school but said his path was blocked because he wasn\u2019t a U.S. citizen. So in 2016, he joined the U.S. Army Reserve in a special program that utilized his language and medical skills. After many delays, he was granted U.S. citizenship in 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the environment the military provides,\u201d he said. \u201cThey give you a sense of brotherhood. Nobody cared where I came from. As long as I did my part, they just saw me as part of the group.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wang then applied to medical schools and chose to come to Wright State because of the number of military veterans at the Boonshoft School of Medicine, the support they receive from the university and that some of the instructors at the medical school are veterans.<\/p>\n

He has signed up for the Army\u2019s Health Professions Scholarship Program, agreeing to work for the Army as a physician for each year he receives educational support from the scholarship.<\/p>\n

Greg Toussaint, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics and a retired Air Force colonel, is one of the Boonshoft School of Medicine faculty who are veterans and an advisor for military students.<\/p>\n

\u201cTypically, 6 to 7% of our medical students are veterans or in the Reserves on a military scholarship. Those with prior service have been everything from medics to a Pashto linguist and a former Marine Corps sniper,\u201d Toussaint said. \u201cThe VMC and its staff provide an additional level of support for these students far beyond anything we could provide on our own.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Weilong Wang, an Army Reserve soldier and medical student, and several classmates are often studying in the Veteran and Military Center from sunup to sundown. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":121087,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,729,2149,2016,2039,715,4298],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-around-campus","category-medical-students","category-medicine","category-military-veterans","category-news","category-student-profile"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121075"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121075\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":140135,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121075\/revisions\/140135"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}