Student’s experience as an EMT eventually led to medical school

Second-year medical student Aidan Gilbert, right, is with his wife, Laura Stowe, their daughter, Agnes, and their dog.

A few years ago, during his first shift as an emergency medical technician, Aidan Gilbert had a life-changing experience in a Tuscaloosa emergency department.

“We had a patient who had been beaten and stabbed,” Gilbert recalled. “We were in the trauma bay. My job was to hold his hand and support him. I was talking to him and trying to keep him calm while the physicians and nurses did a quick check for other injuries.”

The new EMT introduced himself and spent the next 20 minutes speaking with the patient, soothing his fears. After he recovered, the only person the patient remembered and thanked by name was Gilbert. Research shows that assigning one healthcare team member to communicate with a trauma patient in the emergency room ultimately improves outcomes. 

Still an undergrad, Gilbert said he was struck by the impact he could have on someone by doing something so simple: “That’s when I thought, ‘Imagine the impact I could have with the skill set as a physician.’ That stuck with me for a really long time.”

Now a second-year medical student at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, Gilbert said he’s determined to keep the whole patient in mind on his journey to becoming a physician. “The human aspect of being a doctor and having empathy and sympathy, it’s something that’s really important to me,” he said.

The son of a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, Gilbert grew up around the world. His father was stationed in Turkey when his younger sister was diagnosed with cancer. Her diagnosis, he said, during his formative years influenced his ultimate decision to pursue medicine.

After earning an undergraduate degree from the University of Alabama, Gilbert received a Master of Public Health in epidemiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Then, he went to work as a biostatistician in the division of hematology and oncology at UAB before eventually deciding to apply for medical school.   

One round of interviews with faculty at USA cemented his decision to attend medical school in Mobile. “It was like catching up with an old friend,” he said. “It was three hours of great conversation. As soon as I finished my interview, I thought, ‘I have to come to this school.’ The people and the opportunities are unparalleled.”

Gilbert said his close proximity to patients is one of the great things about USA’s medical program. From the first year, he said, the teaching physicians worked to get students out in the community to see patients. With more than two years left in medical school, Gilbert said he’s thinking about specializing in cardiac and thoracic surgery or becoming an obstetrician/gynecologist. 

When the COVID-19 pandemic moved medical school classes exclusively online in the spring of 2020, Gilbert said his professors strived to make the experience as good as it could be. The ability to attend school remotely became even more meaningful when Gilbert and his wife, Laura Stowe, welcomed a daughter to their family in June.