Health science students get small-group mentoring through alumni society

Two alumni physicians urge students to practice the art of living as well as practicing medicine.

Keely Hagan | 615-966-6491  |  11/01/2023

Compassion and spiritual discipline are among the behaviors needed to be both a successful physician and a successful human, according to two alumni who visited with health science students as part of the Physician-in-Residence program launched by the J.S. Ward Society in 2014.

Dr. Luvell Glanton Jr. (BS ’97) and Dr. Kyle Stephens (BA ’02, MA ’04) are the latest of seven alumni who have provided insight and guidance to today’s health science students through the program over the past two years.

The J.S. Ward Ward Society is a  College of Liberal Arts & Sciences  initiative that supports pre-health students. One of the activities of the Ward Society is the Physician-in-Residence program that brings in healthcare professionals to campus to connect with and mentor pre-health students through office hours, guest lectures and presentations on topics related to healthcare. 

“You have to have compassion,” said Glanton, a pain management provider in St. Louis, Missouri. “I feel compassion for all of my patients, but for those who have yet to get the pain relief that they seek, I significantly feel for those patients. They face roadblocks created by the opioid epidemic, insurance and others not believing that their pain is real. It is important for their pain to be taken seriously.” 

Glanton, an anesthesiology specialist focused on the diagnosis, treatment and management of chronic pain and related disorders, discussed “Showing Compassion in the Face of an Opioid Epidemic” at an evening on-campus forum for students in September.

Glanton modeled the kind of active compassion he practices with a story about a patient who had been referred to him for an injection, but after looking at his medical history, Glanton believed something was not right. His requested MRI was rejected by insurance, so he contacted a physician friend who was able to conduct the test and found a huge mass pressing on the patient’s spine. Fortunately for the patient, the mass was still operable.

Stephens, an orthopedic surgeon in his hometown of Paris, Tennessee, shared the personal reason his work with Nashville’s Siloam Health Clinic, serving immigrants, refugees and the underprivileged of Middle Tennessee, is so important to him when he came to campus in October.

“It reminds me of why I went into medicine,” he said. “It has turned into what I call a spiritual discipline. Giving up one day a month to volunteer in the clinic is an important part of who I need to be and reminds me of who I am.” 

In his talk titled “The Good Life and the Gift of Pain,” Stephens advised students that “finding those kinds of rhythms and a community that will help you with that is important.” 

During an afternoon Q&A session with students, he answered questions varying from how to ethically interact with medical equipment sales reps, to how to demonstrate your faith by your treatment of others in the operating room and interactions with patients; from the demands of medical school and residency that impact personal relationships.

“With medicine, I can spend 24 hours a day working in a hospital and I can justify it. I can tell myself I’m doing it for good, and there’s always the motive that the more work I do the more I get paid. [But by doing that,] I can also destroy my marriage, and I can destroy my relationship with my kids and church and all the other stuff that really matters.” 

With a goal to provide living models for connecting the sciences to the art of living, the Physician-in-Residence Program introduces students to health care professionals who have successfully integrated their careers and Christian faith, reinforcing that a career at the intersection of the sciences and faith can produce a rewarding and impactful vocation. Alumni who have participated in the program include health professionals Randy Davis, Scott Guthrie, Alissa Bowersok, Eric Grogan and David LaVelle. 

Some mentoring alumni have held casual conversations with small groups of interested students, spoken in formal settings, advised through formal one-on-one mentorships and even invited students to a meal in their home to give them firsthand insight on medical school life and career issues as a health professional. Ward Society healthcare professionals and Lipscomb alumni who have participated in these activities outside the Physician-in Residence Program include Jon Bennie, Daniel Wakefield, Raye Mitchell, Taylor Blaylock, Savanna Cunningham, Alex Miller, Chloe Wilson, Elizabeth Cluck-Bernard, Victor Deere, Mark Cobb, Gary Jerkins and Mariam Hawaz (pre-dental student).

Both Glanton and Stephens are members of the executive advisory board of the Ward Society, a group of alumni and friends passionate about the health sciences at Lipscomb, who support and mentor students through various mentoring interactions, research fellowships and scholarship programs.

“We are fortunate to have Ward Society members who are appreciative of the outstanding undergraduate education   they received from Lipscomb and now that they are successful health care experts, they want to give back by supporting the next generation of health care professionals,” said Florah Mhlanga, associate provost for undergraduate academic affairs and Ward Society executive director. “Their interactions with students make a difference.”

Glanton, a native of Nashville, earned his bachelor’s degree from Lipscomb, his medical degree from the University of Tennessee and completed his residency in anesthesiology at State University of New York at Buffalo. He also holds a jurisprudence from Saint Louis University, and splits his time between managing a hospital interventional pain management practice in St. Louis and practicing law alongside his father at the Law Offices of Luvell L. Glanton in Nashville.

Stephens has been in private practice in Paris since 2005, specializing in hip, knee and shoulder surgery. As a Lipscomb student athlete, Stephens majored in biology and biblical studies with a minor in chemistry. He followed that with master’s degrees in biblical studies from Lipscomb and divinity from Abilene Christian University. Afterward, he earned his medical degree from the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences and completed his residency at Henry Ford Macomb Hospital in Detroit, Michigan.

The J.S. Ward Society is a group of alumni and friends passionate about the health sciences at Lipscomb University. Lipscomb’s alumni in the fields of science and those alumni who have chosen a health science career are automatically considered members of the J.S. Ward Society. Learn more about the J.S. Ward Society or make a gift to support this program.