Raised in Virginia, Tom Peterson grew up in military family. His dad was in the Air Force and his grandfather was an orthopedic surgeon in the United States Army. After attending college at Penn State University, Tom decided to stay in the northeast for medical school. He wanted a medical school where the students supported each other and were people he could hang out with on a daily basis. He says he knew Drexel met his criteria as soon as he came for his interview. In addition to friendly faculty, many students came up to him and talked to him about coming to Drexel. He thinks it’s the best decision he could have made. Between years one and two, Tom completed basic training in the United States Army. He plans to serve as a family medicine doctor in the army after he graduates. Tom finds that one of the most rewarding aspects of medical school is the ability to give back to the underserved in the local Philadelphia community. He believes Drexel has given him the necessary tools to be a good doctor and has allowed him to grow a lot along the way.

 I came straight to Drexel from college. I went to Penn State University. I'm planning on going into family medicine just because I like the continuity of care and following up with my patients so much. And I'm going to be serving in the Army after I graduate from Drexel as well, so I'll be an Army family medicine doctor.

 I actually went to college thinking I might want to be a forensic scientist, but I volunteered in a hospital, and just the relationships with the patients made me change my mind. And that's when I knew that I really wanted to become a doctor.

 The aspects of Drexel that I've found most rewarding are the ways that we're able to give back in medical school. Being able to work with the underserved populations, and identifying their medical problems and seeing what we can do to help them at little to no cost, has been one of the most rewarding things I've been able to do in medical school.

 I feel like I've been personally embraced by Drexel. I feel that I've really been able to make my mark on this program and make Drexel part of my own. The tools that Drexel has given me throughout my three years at medical school so far are really going to help me in my future career, both as a doctor and as a person.

 What I've really learned is how I want my career to develop. And what's important to me is forming relationships with patients and being able to treat them as not just patients, but as individual people. These three years have allowed me to grow as a person, to figure out what exactly I wanted to do with the rest of my life, and allowed me to have a lot of fun along the way. 

 
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