By Laurel Bennett, Features Editor
Gettysburg College is known for its resources that enable students to succeed in the next chapter of their lives, whether that be the workforce, graduate school or an internship. Hunter Markle ’18 is a Gettysburg alumnus currently completing a general surgery residency program at UPMC of Central Pennsylvania.
Markle chose to attend Gettysburg during the day he interviewed.
“I had the opportunity to go to a few classes, and what stood out the most was the relationships all the professors seemed to have with their students,” Markle said.
Markle expanded on how these relationships with professors impacted him during his time as a Gettysburg student.
“As a student, all of my professors knew my name, and they were easily approachable and happy to see me outside of class,” he said. “I even had several late-night conversations with professors when I was taking a break from studying and saw they were still in the office!”
(Photo Provided by Hunter Markle)
As a biology major and chemistry minor, Markle remained busy with his academic commitments. On campus, he also was involved with Residence Life as a Residence Coordinator, Big Brothers Big Sisters, a tour guide and acted as a biology lab assistant for several semesters.
Markle’s involvement at Gettysburg prepared him for the intern year of his general surgery residency program, as well as his additional education prior to this point.
“After graduating, I worked for a year at Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories, where I performed testing on pharmaceutical products,” he explained. “After that, I was accepted to medical school at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Erie, PA, and I just graduated in May of this year.”
Markle credits Gettysburg’s professors for preparing him for medical school, particularly the small class sizes that allowed for more engagement and interactive opportunities.
“There was a lot of synthesizing information from lectures required to do well. In medical school, a lot of the expectations were the same – we needed to take information from a lecture and not only memorize it but be able to answer third-order questions about it,” Markle said.
After being introduced to this way of learning at Gettysburg, Markle found it easier to adapt to the expectations of medical school. While a residency is rather different from medical school, he still believes that the work ethic and connections he formed at Gettysburg are helping him to succeed.
Ultimately, Markle credited the professors of Gettysburg and his advisor for shaping him into the person he is today.
“Throughout the challenges of being accepted into medical school, the professors were incredibly supportive and encouraging, both academically and personally, and that is something I think is very hard to find at other colleges,” Markle said.
(Editor’s Note: This article was edited at 7:08 p.m. on October 2, 2023 to correct the name of Markle’s general surgery residency program. – L. Franchetti)
