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A match made in medical school, Justine Walker and Philip Verhoef plan to pursue careers in academic medicine
Justine Walker and Philip Verhoef always will remember Match Day as the day he proposed to her.
It was a chance meeting in a “touchy-feely small group” that brought Justine Walker and Philip Verhoef together. In the months that followed, the two grew to become great friends as they worked alongside one another during their surgery clerkship. They agreed to begin dating in July 2004. The rest, as they say, is history. The two already had planned to continue their lives together after medical school, applying for residency training through the “couples’ match.” But Verhoef surprised Walker on Match Day: a proposal to formalize their relationship found its way into her envelope. Now Walker is completing a pediatrics residency, and Verhoef is completing an internal medicine/pediatrics residency. Both are at the University of California, Los Angeles. Walker plans to sub-specialize in pediatric hematology-oncology, and Verhoef plans to sub-specialize in rheumatology. Both wish to remain in academic medicine. Hailing from opposite ends of the country, Walker, originally from San Diego, and Verhoef, a “Midwest, East-Coast wanderer,” said they were both drawn to Case Western Reserve University for medical school because of the school’s reputation. They took quite different paths to arrive at their decisions to become physicians, however. Walker said she always knew that a career in medicine was an ideal suit. “Both my mother and father are physicians, so I guess you can say that I got an early start,” she said. Her love of science, need for intellectual stimulation, and desire to give back to the community attracted her to the field. She graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in molecular and cell biology. Verhoef, an M.D./Ph.D. student in the school’s prestigious Medical Scientist Training Program, said he did not realize his desire to become a physician until partway through medical school. “My interest was in pharmaceuticals and novel drug therapies,” he said, “but once I was in medical school, especially the third and fourth years, I discovered that I loved clinical medicine. There’s a satisfaction that comes with diagnosis and treatment, especially in the very sick patient.” In 2004, Verhoef earned his Ph.D. in pharmacology. With commencement in May, he became the first physician in his family. During medical school, Walker was active in the Student National Medical Association, an organization dedicated to promoting health care in underserved populations. “I decided to join this group because they offer a lot of opportunities for community service,” she said. She also spent the entire month of April of her final year of medical school serving the people of Costa Rica through a medical Spanish immersion program. Walker was able to turn to Verhoef for advice on learning to adapt to life in another country. He spent June 1999 to August 2000 working in Southeast Asia after being awarded a fellowship through the Luce Scholars Program. He was placed in rural central Thailand and was educated in Thai traditional medicine. Through his experience, Verhoef became fluent in the Thai language and learned about herbal medicines, massage and the preparation of many traditional Thai foods as he traveled throughout Asia. “It was an outstanding experience,” he said. Verhoef, a College of Wooster graduate, and Walker also share a love of music. Both are past participants in Doc Opera, with Verhoef serving as director of the event in 1999. Doc Opera is an annual revue during which medical students perform skits and song-and-dance numbers in parody of the medical school experience. Verhoef also was the director of the medical student a cappella singing group, Doc Appella. But perhaps his proudest and most rewarding musical achievement was the roots rock band he co-founded, the Cap Gun Cowboys. The group, with Verhoef as the lead vocalist, acoustic guitarist and trombonist, played three to five times a month at local venues in Cleveland in addition to performing in Chicago, Baltimore and West Virginia. The Cap Gun Cowboys released an original full-length album in 2003 and recently released their follow-up effort. – Lauren Pomykala |
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