 Alumni Interviews:
Giving Back
"I would encourage alumni to reflect on their
current professional activities and consider about where they would
be without their UI education—in terms of the degrees they
received, and specifically in terms of what the high quality UI
education allowed them to do that a lesser school may not have
done."
In his spare time, David Engman, M.D., Ph.D., works on behalf
of about 18,000 people.
As the chair of the Medicine Alumni Society Board of Advisors
at the University of Iowa, Engman represents the 18,000 alumni
of the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, while
teaching and working as the director of the Medical Scientist Training
Program at Northwestern University.
A 1990 graduate of the UI Carver College of Medicine, Engman
feels it is important to give back to his alma mater.
"I believe that people should feel an allegiance and a responsibility
to support the institutions where they trained," Engman, a
Des Moines native, said. "I agreed to serve on the board when
it was established because I felt that sharing my ‘life after
Iowa' experience with the dean and medical school administration
might help them with some of their decisions. In addition, I benefit
from learning how Iowa does certain things and can apply those
ideas to my own work at Northwestern."
Noting that while schools do operate with income from tuition,
taxes and grants, Engman said that's often not enough. Giving back
to your school is important, as most schools depend heavily on
charitable donations for establishment and enhancement of educational
programs, he said.
The Medicine Alumni Society Board of Advisors meets twice a year
and is comprised of UI Carver College of Medicine graduates from
all of its educational programs, plus current students, the deans,
faculty and UI Foundation representatives. The group discusses
programs and issues important to alumni, as well as helps select
distinguished alumni awards and participates in the UI Carver College
of Medicine scholarship award luncheon.
In their two-day meeting this fall, the board discussed the UI
presidential search, the Medical Education Networks for Teaching
and Outreach to Schools (MENTORS) program, scholarships, collaboration
between the UI Carver College of Medicine and UI Hospitals and
Clinics, the current state of the College and the Medicine Alumni
Society
Web
page redesign.
After graduating from the UI, Engman returned to Northwestern
in 1990, where he had done his undergraduate studies in biological
sciences. Since 1995, Engman has led the Medical Scientist Training
Program at Northwestern, which trains biomedical investigators
for both an M.D. and a Ph.D. degree. As director, he oversees admissions,
advising, special programs and administration.
Also an associate professor of pathology, Engman teaches medical
school courses in pathology and microbiology and graduate school
courses in microbiology, advanced microbial pathogenesis and advanced
eukaryotic molecular biology. He also directs his research laboratory,
which focuses on tropical parasitic diseases and inflammatory heart
diseases.
But amidst all his work, he stops to give back to his alma mater,
and hopes others will do the same.
"I would encourage alumni to reflect on their current professional
activities and consider about where they would be without their
UI education—in terms of the degrees they received, and specifically
in terms of what the high quality UI education allowed them to
do that a lesser school may not have done."
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