 Alumni
Interviews:
Patricia Walker, M.D., Ph.D.
"It has also been wonderful to watch the University
continue to grow and expand and be on the leading edge of science
and medicine. It gives me great pride to see this progress and
to know that this institution is part of my past. I am proud to
have trained at the University of Iowa."
Patricia Walker, M.D., Ph.D., lives more than 1,800 miles away
from Iowa City, but that doesn’t stop her from staying connected
to the University of Iowa.
The UI Carver College of Medicine alumna, now vice president
of clinical research and development of skin care pharmaceuticals
at Allergan Skin Care in Irvine, California, returns to the University
to serve on the Medicine Alumni Society Board of Advisors. She
also gives educational lectures to the UI Department of Dermatology
and the college's Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP).
"
It’s important to continue the legacy, to support the institution
which trained and educated me," Walker said. "It is important
to support the University so that it is still strong and even better
when my children and grandchildren are ready to enter college and
post-graduate training."
Walker graduated from the UI with a bachelor’s degree in
general science in 1982 and from the UI MSTP in 1990, and she completed
her residency in dermatology at the UI in 1993. She has been working
at Allergan for the past six years and serving as a vice president
for the past two. She works with a team of scientists and clinicians
to bring new medicines from the laboratory to the clinic in a multicultural,
international, and multi-disciplinary environment. Currently she
is working on developing new medicines for the systemic and topical
treatment of skin diseases.
Walker continues to donate her time and resources to her alma
mater to give back and stay connected.
"
It is a great way to support your past and future, not to mention
it reconnects you with your roots, old friends, and colleagues," Walker
said. "It has also been wonderful to watch the University
continue to grow and expand and be on the leading edge of science
and medicine. It gives me great pride to see this progress and
to know that this institution is part of my past. I am proud to
have trained at the University of Iowa."
Walker’s education in the MSTP at Iowa prepared her for her
career by giving her the ability to understand laboratory science
and translate it into clinical medicine and therapeutic interventions.
Because of several mentors during her education at the University
of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Patty Walker feels that she
received a well-rounded and positive scientific and medical education.
"It is amazing to reflect upon how Drs. Robert Fellows, Jeffrey
Pessin and John Strauss opened doors for me. They are the kind
of individuals who make Iowa a great place. They were all recruited
from the east coast to the corn fields of Iowa where they not only
contributed to their respective scientific/medical specialties,
but they influenced and mentored a student."
According to Walker, it's educators and mentors like these
that make the UI one of the top medical schools in the country.
Walker feels that the college's Medical Scientist Training
Program ranks especially high among others in the country.
"I can't imagine that there could be a better program.
There may be programs with larger numbers of NIH grant recipients,
Howard Hughes Scholars or Nobel laureates on their rosters, but
I am not sure that many other institutions offer consistently high
quality education in a collegial environment that fosters learning."
This environment is a great way to encourage prospective medical
students to attend the UI, according to Walker. She feels that
there are several reasons why students will benefit from the UI's
medical education.
"The UI has it all: excellent teachers, mentors, facilities,
a livable town and most importantly, it provides an environment
geared towards helping the student achieve success. The UI invests
in you, the only thing you have to do is open your mind to learning.
At the UI, you won't be a number, free labor or income-you
will be a student. The UI's mission is to make you the best
physician scientist you can be."
Now an alumna of the UI Carver College of Medicine, Walker has
to learn to balance her career as a scientist, physician and teacher
with her family and home life.
"Don't take yourself and your career too seriously.
Surround
your family with a support network, family, friends, church, domestic
service, etc. This network will be the glue that helps you keep
it together during the crazy times."
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