 Alumni
Interviews:
Nathan Funk, M.D.
From pets to people
"The people here at The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine are so well rounded and make education a very growing experience."
Nathan Funk grew up with the idea he wanted to help people through helping their pets. Funk attended Iowa State University where he majored in animal science as an undergraduate. Then, about two years into working on his master's in veterinarian microbiology, he realized he wanted to help people a little more directly, and set out to become a doctor.
Funk is a second year medical student with an interest in internal medicine. Making the decision to switch from a veterinarian to a doctor was "a big change," Funk says, "But I feel good about it." And it seems as though he has made the transition well.
Last summer Funk took a job at the UI Hospitals and Clinics Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, where he worked on leukemia and lymphemia research under the guidance of Dr. Wiener.
Funk is impressed by the high quality of care that is practiced at the UI Carver College of Medicine and UI Hospital and Clinics. He also feels that UI graduates have a solid reputation for being knowledgeable, working well with others and practicing good ethics. Together, these characteristics give him the confidence that he will have a great career no matter where his education should take him.
Funk also hopes to follow in the footsteps of two mentors he has found at Iowa. Dr. Richard LeBlonde, Clinical Professor of Department of Internal Medicine, has an intellect and confidence that Funk greatly admires. Funk is similarly inspired by his ethics teacher, Dr. Lauris Kaldjian, Associate Professor of Department of Internal Medicine. Funk believes Dr. Kaldjian brings a uniquely personal and human aspect to medicine that Funk finds all-too-often missing. Both of these mentors positively reinforce Funk's decision to change his career path.
Funk's desire to get the most out of medical school motivates him to work as hard as he does. But in addition to his academic work, Funk juggles a number of other leadership activities, including serving as president of the Medical Student Ambassadors, as well as serving as a member of the Community Leadership Council and the Medicine Alumni Board of Advisors.
Funk wants alumni to know that students appreciate their coming in and speaking to students about how their education got them where they are today and what other opportunities that they should seek out. He also hopes to use this opportunity on the board to reflect the attitudes and thoughts of his peers in order to make everyone's time here the best experience possible.
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