Contact: Will Sansom 210-567-2579

Ricardo Villalobos Jr. (left) and Bianca Aguilar (right), seniors at South San Antonio High School, receive a neurology lesson from Francisco González-Scarano, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine. Villalobos, 17, would like to pursue vascular surgery as a career, in part because his grandmother had Alzheimer’s disease. Aguilar, 18, wants to specialize in orthopedic surgery.
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SAN ANTONIO (March 30, 2011) — Francisco González-Scarano, M.D., stood at the front of the classroom in a starched, white UT Health Science Center lab coat, asking questions of 20 South San Antonio High School juniors and seniors fascinated by health science careers.

“How many of you want to be a physician, a dentist, a nurse?” he asked, hands going up. “I am a neurologist, a physician who takes care of the medicine of the brain. Can anybody name a neurological disease?”

The occasion was National Doctors Day, March 30. Dr. González, dean of the School of Medicine, professor of neurology and vice president for medical affairs at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio, volunteered an hour of his time to ensure that the baton of medicine is passed to a new generation. Some of the young charges could one day be students in the School of Medicine.

The first X-ray
The same day, Darlene Metter, M.D., professor and vice chair of radiology in the School of Medicine, showed fifth-graders at Jackson-Keller Elementary a picture of the first X-ray ever taken. It was an 1895 image by Wilhelm Röntgen of his wife’s hand, including wedding ring.

Drs. González and Metter were among more than 20 UT Medicine physicians who made “house calls” to schools across San Antonio on the day that celebrates medical doctors. (UT Medicine is the practice of School of Medicine doctors.) William L. Henrich, M.D., MACP, a nephrologist who is president of the Health Science Center, visited with students at Health Careers High School.

Darlene Metter, M.D., (second from right) professor and vice chair of radiology in the School of Medicine, shows a photo of an X-ray to (left to right) Jocelyn Alvarez, Fatima Rubio, Ariel Green, Angel Garcia, Grace Perales and Skylar Flournoy, all fifth-graders at Jackson-Keller Elementary in the North East Independent School District.

A new way of thinking
It takes 12 years of study to become a neurologist, Dr. González said at the South San Antonio Career Center. Medicine is about learning a new way of thinking and about learning to interact with patients, he said.

A student asked, “What do you learn in medical school?” The dean answered that students learn the biology of cells, and integrate this with knowledge of specific organ functions, both normal and diseased. Students also learn from watching mentors on clerkships in hospitals, he said.

Worth the challenge
At Health Careers, President Henrich spoke about a clinical rotation he did at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston where 120 children presented with diseases such as acute lymphoblastic lymphoma (ALL). Three decades ago, almost every child with ALL died. Today, up to 75 percent survive.

Dr. Henrich encouraged the students to pursue the dream of education, including medicine. “There is great satisfaction in conquering something that is hard,” he said. “Don’t quit because it is hard; don’t stop because it is difficult.”

Student’s gratitude
Chirag Buch, a sophomore at Health Careers and president of the school’s Health Occupations Students of America chapter, sent an e-mail to Dr. Henrich the same day. “Ever since I was a little child, I have had a strong burning passion to facilitate the well-being of other human beings,” Buch wrote. “The field of medicine involving surgery and research has always fascinated me, and therefore my aspirations for the future are to become a cardiothoracic surgeon along with researching the cure of AIDS/HIV.

“Dr. Henrich, it was a great honor meeting you this afternoon. Your presentation was wonderful, and I will definitely use the wise pieces of advice that you shared with my peers and I. Thank you. I really appreciate your time.”

Academic medicine
In fifth-grade terms, Dr. Metter explained the complicated lives of academic physicians. “Our doctors teach students and residents — we have 225 new students per year. Our doctors also practice medicine and conduct research. Dr. Julio Palmaz, a radiologist, was one of my teachers and he developed the first stainless-steel stent so people with diseased blood vessels can live longer. It looks like a little metal cage, like chicken wire. You probably know someone who has a stent.”

Radiologists take X-rays, CT scans, ultrasound and nuclear medicine studies, Dr. Metter said. “We can see someone on the inside, when they are hurting or unconscious. Isn’t that neat?”

2,000 young minds
UT Medicine sent thousands of T-shirts to the host schools. The shirts featured the words "Future Doctor" and a clever design that made them look like lab coats with green scrubs underneath. “Yesterday was a great day!” Irene Chapa, Ph.D., director of recruitment and science outreach, said. “I received many phone calls and e-mails from teachers so pleased with the doctors who presented at their schools. We had 23 faculty at local schools, and over the course of the day they spoke to more than 2,000 students. The stories they shared about their journeys and the field of medicine surely inspired and motivated many.”

Future world-changer
Skylar Flourney, a fifth-grader at Jackson Keller Elementary, took her shirt home so her mother could customize it. Skylar said she wants to be a veterinarian, “to find a way to change things in the world.” She recently read an article about Indians making medicine out of plants. “I would like to make medicine to make people live longer, like my great-grandma and great-grandpa,” Skylar said.

Those kinds of thoughts, those kinds of seeds, were planted on Doctors Day, thanks to the unselfish acts of faculty both named here and unnamed.

(Will Sansom, External Affairs, reported this story with contributions from Tina Luther and Dr. Irene Chapa.)

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UT Medicine San Antonio is the clinical practice of the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio. With more than 700 doctors — all faculty from the School of Medicine — UT Medicine is the largest medical practice in Central and South Texas, with expertise in more than 60 different branches of medicine. Primary care doctors and specialists see patients in private practice at UT Medicine’s clinical home, the Medical Arts & Research Center (MARC), located in the South Texas Medical Center at 8300 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio 78229. Most major health plans are accepted, and there are clinics and physicians at several local and regional hospitals, including CHRISTUS Santa Rosa, University Hospital and Baptist Medical Center. Call 210-450-9000 to schedule an appointment, or visit the website at www.UTMedicine.org for a complete listing of clinics and phone numbers.