A Student Perspective: Davin Evanson
Hometown: Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
Undergraduate: Brigham Young University, 2021, Neuroscience
Medical School: Drexel University College of Medicine, Class of ’25
Activites: Medical Research Scholar — Business Track; Street Medicine; Steering Coordinator for Faith Care Clinic HOP site; Diagnostic Radiology Interest Group; Interventional Radiology Interest Group; Orthopedic Surgery Interest Group
Drexel really emphasizes collaboration and the opportunity to work as a team.
The medical field is basically a team sport, which I didn’t realize before coming to medical school. It’s not just one physician. It’s the nurses, assistants and technicians. It’s physicians working with other physicians, collaborating, leading and being led. Drexel emphasized that more than any other school where I interviewed, and, as someone who grew up playing sports, that really drew me in.
Drexel has done a good job of preparing us to collaborate with individuals who are diverse and unique in their views and experiences. We’re able to learn from each other instead of just learning from a book. Every patient is going to come from a different background, so learning how to understand and build relationships with them is key.
The staff and faculty here at Drexel are 100% our advocates.
Our son was born during my first year of medical school and I was able to arrange time off to be there for my wife and to be there as a dad. The staff and faculty understood what was important at that time and what’s most important in life, and that’s the relationships we have. I’m so thankful for that.
Drexel also provides access to therapists that we can always go and talk to confidentially. When I came into medical school, we had just moved across the country and were having a kid, so having someone to talk to who could normalize the stress I was feeling and help me overcome it was fantastic. The thing I’m most proud of is how I’ve found balance in my life — being able to study and excel in medical school, but also maintain things in my personal life.
I wanted to be able to still be a dad during medical school.
After the interview for Drexel, I knew coming here — particularly to the West Reading campus — would give me the opportunity to continue to be both a husband and a father during medical school because you get to stay in one place the entire time. We live five minutes from the hospital so there’s no long commute or having to go away on rotations.
The West Reading community was so excited to have a medical school and to have students begin their training here.
The West Reading campus is beautiful and in a great location. We have the same level of research and community service opportunities as Philadelphia, and the community has been so willing to involve us. Our contact with Tower Health’s Reading Hospital started soon after we arrived. Our faculty are physicians at Tower Health. We have a direct connection to the hospital here.
I am super excited to begin my third-year clerkships at Reading Hospital. Obviously, there are also some nerves and some unknown. I’ve heard it’s a fantastic training hospital and that the physicians, attendings and staff do a great job of helping students learn what they need to be successful.