As Brant Barron, DO ‘20, begins his career in family medicine, he offers advice to non-traditional students considering medical school.
When a calling to attend medical school could no longer be ignored, Brant Barron, DO ’20, applied and was accepted at PCOM Georgia, the closest medical school to his home in Gainesville, Georgia.
“For years I had a calling,” said Barron. “But I doubted my abilities and was too stubborn to say I had gone in the wrong direction.” A family medical experience “removed my ego from my body for a time and allowed me to see clearly.”
“It is in my nature to want to understand at the highest level possible,” shared Barron. “I have always been the one who takes the idea, turns it into a mission and leads a team to get it accomplished.” In reviewing potential healthcare careers, he realized he was best suited for the role of the physician.
Barron plans to accomplish much in his life and career, but his main goal is simply to care for others. “I hope to always offer kindness, love, grace and compassion to others, including myself, and to strive to live a life that can be inspiring and an example of these values. I want to become continually more thoughtful of the needs and feelings of others, to exert even greater effort in all my professional and personal endeavors,” he said.
“I want to learn from people wiser than me and teach those who can learn from me. I want to continue to love being alive and I want to be the best person I possibly can be. I hope to offer healing to people in both the worst and the best times in their lives,” he added.
He is inspired by his fiancée and partner, Cory Barrows, DO ’20, whom he calls a light in his life and his biggest supporter, his daughters, his parents, and by “people who stand up to tyranny, speak truth to power or are persecuted for their beliefs” and “those who have seen darkness, but choose the light.”
The couple will be moving to Augusta, Georgia, for their residency programs. They both matched to the Medical College of Georgia – Brant to family medicine and Cory to pediatrics.
Barron offered advice to prospective, non-traditional students considering applying to medical school: “You will watch the next years pass in front of you either way. If you are called, then watch them pass becoming who you are meant to be. You will lose some of yourself, but also gain some of the self you will become.”
“It’s not easy,” he added, “but with constant determination and extreme perseverance, you can achieve it. You’ve got this!”
© 2024 Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
