A Path From Military To Medicine

For the recent Tillman Scholar Michael Weipert, the path to medical school has been a long and winding road.

As a teenager, Weipert knew he wanted to be a doctor, but a sense of service led him to the military, and even further from applying to medical school. By the time he was able to apply, the process seemed muddy, especially since he was on the other side of the world.

As an Eagle Scout in high school, Weipert worked on a project for a local children’s hospital. He made thousands of wooden blocks for a specialized area of the hospital created for children with severe allergies to plastic and dyes – often found in many store-bought toys. He says spending time in the hospital and making a contribution to others’ lives was when he first realized he wanted to be a doctor.

During college, Weipert chose a pre-med major. He also joined the reserves. During a service mission to Russia he became fluent in Russian and volunteered at a children’s cancer hospital.

“While the children’s hospital back home certainly sparked my fire to become a doctor, the mission in Russia really lit a fire in me,” Weipert said. “These kids had nothing to do. The family was in charge of feeding them, so they’d drop off some bread for the week and then have to go back to work. The kids were left to spend their downtime in a big, empty auditorium with nothing but one small T.V. and no chairs. They just sat there, around that one small T.V. So we brought them board games and played with them, and I started juggling and performing magic tricks to entertain them. I just wanted to ease their suffering however we could.”

That trip to Russia did two things for Weipert: solidified his desire to give back and gave him the ability to speak Russian fluently.

Just before Weipert graduated college as a pre-med major, the Twin Towers fell on September 11th. He put everything on hold for graduation and medical school, and commissioned with the U.S. Army. Because he was fluent in Russian, Weipert was able to test out of course work, graduate early with a degree in Russian Studies and enter flight school with the Army, first for helicopters, then for fixed wing aircraft.

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