24 • GCU TODAY
A Study in Focus
WithGCU’s help, GustavoAntonovercame dyslexia topursue a career inmedicine
I
n medical school, there are few breaks
from studying. It’s constant, especially
with a full schedule of courses in
biochemistry, anatomy, embryology and
clinical medicine.
Gustavo Anton reminds himself that all of
the reading, memorizing and understanding his
complex course material is critical to becoming
a pediatric surgeon. The work is challenging
for any med school student. But for Anton, who
overcame dyslexia to earn his premed degree
from Grand Canyon University in 2012, studying
for his courses at Midwestern University’s
Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine in
Glendale requires some creative prep work to
ensure laser-precision focus.
“Every time I’m sitting down to study, I put on
the TV or an episode on Netflix or something like
that,” said Anton, who earned his master’s degree
in biomedical sciences fromMidwestern before
beginning his doctoral program this summer.
Yes, having an episode of “The Office” or
“Scrubs” on in the living room actually helped
him study for the highly competitive Medical
College Admission Test.
Anton, 30, prints his course materials on
orange paper and wears eyeglasses with blue
lenses to help read other printouts on white
paper, using techniques he picked up at GCU to
focus on the volumes of medical literature he
digests on a nightly basis. It’s a little different,
but it has worked wonders for a man who
struggled to read throughout his childhood.
“If it’s quiet, I will start reading and my
mind will just wander, like daydreaming,”
he said. “When I have the TV on that doesn’t
happen. Also, with the colored glasses, it just
calms things down.”
Anton said his late start on college was
the result of a lack of confidence caused
by his dyslexia, but he discovered GCU’s
biology premed program to be the perfect
fit. Instructors were sympathetic to his
reading challenges and recognized his natural
analytical skills in the laboratory.
The native of Mexico never earned higher
than a B in high school. His parents dropped
out of middle school to work as laborers. For
them, attending college was never an option.
Anton continued to struggle with reading
and writing at GCU but started earning better
grades once he understood his condition,
which his family failed to fully grasp when he
was a child in Mexico. Once he was in the U.S.,
teachers attributed his poor reading skills to
the language barrier, inaccurately describing
him as “a little slow.”
At GCU, Anton proved more studious than
his earliest teachers gave him credit for. Plus,
the west Phoenix campus gave him a touch
of nostalgia. He had visited GCU with his
Mesa High School science class and had fallen
in love with the cadaver lab, used to train
undergraduates in medical dissection.
“I don’t know what it was, but all the
cutting, dissecting and finding out what’s
GCU
Alumni
B Y M I C H A E L F E R R A R E S I
Gustavo Anton prepares for his white coat
ceremony at Midwestern University in Glendale,
Ariz. The event introduces first-year medical
school students to the university using a common
pledge to uphold modern health care standards and
professionalism.
photo by alexis bolze
