There are 34 students in Engineering Medicine’s (EnMed) second class of future physicianeers. They represent 13 states and come with undergraduate degrees ranging from biomedical and mechanical engineering to neuroscience and computer science. They have interests outside of school that include programming, hiking and restoring classic cars, but all were attracted to the new opportunity to become a new kind of doctor, the EnMed physicianeer.
Learn more about five students from EnMed’s class of 2024:
Matt Armstrong
Armstrong joins EnMed with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from Texas A&M University. With research interests that include new imaging modalities, including magnetic resonance and cardiovascular applications of imaging, Armstrong says he saw EnMed as an opportunity to capitalize on his undergraduate curriculum and gain practical knowledge of how to apply real innovation to medicine.
“Over the course of my career, I hope to have an impact that results in excellent healing and personal patient care with lasting improvements in patient outcomes and reduced medical errors this can be accomplished through innovation and by leadership,” he said.
Austin Hagen
Hagen joins EnMed from Temple, Texas, and received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Baylor University. He chose EnMed for medical school to keep engaging with the creative side of his brain while also staying on the forefront of new technologies that can provide the best treatments for patients.
While Hagen is keeping his options for the future open at this time, he has interests in orthopedic surgery, cardiovascular surgery and emergency medicine. He says whatever medical specialty he decides on will come with an emphasis on device innovation and implementation to improve patient outcomes. He also has interests in increasing access to quality care at low costs for rural areas far from major medical complexes.
Brianna Peacock
Originally from Reno, Nevada, Peacock chose to pursue medical school at EnMed for the opportunity to find areas of need where she can improve the lives of both the individual patient and the greater population through innovation. With a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Nevada, she sees EnMed as a way to learn how to integrate engineering with medicine to impact lives inside and outside of the clinic.
Before joining EnMed, she worked as an emergency room scribe while also volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House in Reno. After completing medical school, she plans to work as a clinician and also teach and train future clinicians and providers.
Tanner Walker
Born in Houston, Texas, Walker finds himself back home at EnMed after obtaining a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Johns Hopkins University. His prior experience in health care includes volunteering at Medstar ER and the Mayo Clinic.
Walker says that he chose EnMed because he wants to help solve the systemic problems that he sees in medicine by utilizing his background as an engineer. He believes that having a working understanding of engineering principles will benefit him as a physician going into a device-dependent health care world.
Ramya Varadarajan
Varadarajan joins EnMed’s class of 2024 from Greensboro, North Carolina, where she received her bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering with a minor in chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). Throughout her time at UNC, Ramya served as co-president of the Biomedical Devices Club and was a leader and active member in the Helping Hand Project, an organization that makes free prosthetic hands for kids. In the summer, she also worked at Arthrex Inc., an orthopedic surgical device company where she helped surgeons and product managers develop innovative new devices and tools for surgery.
Before medical school, Varadarajan spent a year working in the Section for Functional Imaging Methods at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland, where she helped develop cutting-edge fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) methodology and studied the dynamics of fMRI signal fluctuations. She also participated in fMRI research related to the development and progression of dementia at the Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity at Oxford University, England, during a summer study-abroad experience.
She plans to use her time at EnMed to hone skills in innovation, creativity and problem-solving. She’s interested in pediatrics, but wants to keep an open mind about her future career.
To learn how you can support future physicianeers at EnMed, contact Karen Slater, assistant vice president for development at kslater@txamfoundation.com.
