Former Liberty field hockey player part of first class of accelerated medical school entry program

Emily Dykema, a former Liberty University field hockey player, is now one of five students who has taken advantage of a new program at the Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine (LUCOM) that allows biomedical science students to get a head start on their careers in medicine.

The LU MED 3+1 Accelerated Biomedical Sciences BS/DO program is an accelerated pathway, thanks to a collaboration between the School of Health Sciences and LUCOM, through which pre-med students complete their first of four years at LUCOM in place of their final year in undergraduate studies. It offers a distinct advantage to outstanding undergraduate students who wish to become osteopathic physicians.

With an inquisitive mind and heart for serving others, Dykema says she sees LUCOM and the medical field as a worthy challenge. While she’s still waiting to experience more areas of the medical field during her LUCOM studies to finalize her decision, she is currently interested in going into family medicine.

“I’ve always wanted to help people, which you could do anywhere and in any position, but I also think that God has also given me a mind that is so curious, and I love learning about things,” she said. “Medicine is such a great combination of the two. To be able to help people and to challenge yourself intellectually, that is something that will be fulfilling for me in the long term. You’re able to meet so many people in a unique spot in their lives when they’re vulnerable and pour into them, and that’s something that I could really see myself doing.”

Her desire to help others, she explained, comes fully from the example of Christ, who met people’s physical needs in addition to the spiritual.

“My faith has greatly influenced the reason that I want to go into medicine, because it’s such an opportunity to meet people and be the hands and feet of Jesus in a tangible way,” Dykema said. “The Gospels are full of stories of Jesus healing people and helping them. I feel like the Lord has gifted me with the right things to be able to do that, and so it’d be a waste if I didn’t pursue it.”

Dykema’s decision to attend Liberty was one that her older sisters, Ashley and Bethany, had made before her as they preceded her on Liberty’s field hockey team. The native of Newport News, Va., often visited campus and the team while seeing her sisters, which she said made Liberty an easy choice.

“When my sisters were on the team, I would come to the games and speak with the coaches and be around the team, and it was never a hard decision for me,” Dykema said. “Knowing what the team, atmosphere, students, and campus was like, I’d known I wanted to come to Liberty since I was pretty young.”

Last spring, when Dykema was a junior pursuing her bachelor’s, she heard about the creation of the 3+1 option and interviewed for the new opportunity. She and four others now form the inaugural class of the program, getting a one-year jump start on medical school and their careers.

“When they were celebrating the people who would be in the first class of this program, they gave us a certain number of how many more patients we will have the potential to impact because we were getting into the medical field a whole year earlier,” she said. “You get in earlier, you get out earlier, you make your money earlier. Having this opportunity to get all of that started sooner was something I never saw coming, and I’m really excited to be on that path now.”

An additional incentive of the program is that it waives the requirement for taking the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), a standardized test taken by prospective medical students. Students must maintain a 3.7 science GPA and complete an interview with a committee to be considered for the LU MED 3+1 program.

In taking up this opportunity, Dykema had to put down her field hockey stick, an aspect of her life that she was disappointed to see end.

“All of us in this inaugural class had our senior years change in ways we hadn’t originally planned on, and in my case it was giving up a sport I’d grown up being around and playing,” she said. “I asked one of the people if there was any way I could do both, and I’m glad that he was honest and kind with me and said, ‘There’s no way you could do both. You would fail at one of them.’”

Though she’s only a few months into the medical school experience, Dykema said that some of the abilities and mindsets that allowed her to succeed as a student-athlete have translated to the rigors of medical school.

“Medical school is hard, but being a student-athlete has prepared me so well for what it takes to get through medical school in some ways,” she said. “It takes resilience, grit, and balancing time. Being a (NCAA) DI athlete at a reputable program, while also pursuing a biomedical sciences degree, has prepared me for that.”

Similar to the teammates she used to take the field with, Dykema said the culture in both the School of Health Sciences and LUCOM is one of collaboration, not unhealthy competitiveness, and she has been encouraged by faculty and staff who are ready and willing to help her succeed.

For more information about the LU MED 3+1 Accelerated Biomedical Sciences BS/DO, contact LUCOM Admissions at lucomadmissions@liberty.edu or (434) 592-7444.