2 8 • GCU TODAY
GCU
Alumni
E
rica Wadas will need to get used to New England blizzards
this winter.
The Arizona native never has had to dig her way out of the
garage or scrape a frozen windshield. But that’s about to change
for the Grand Canyon University alumna, who graduated this year from the
University of Arizona’s College of Medicine and recently began her residency
at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., just a fewmiles
from the Ivy League campus.
Wadas, 30, is working in general medicine with a variety of patients and
also is doing rotations that expose her to specialty areas of medicine, such as
cardiology, endocrinology and gastrointestinal disorders.
Following in her mother’s footsteps, Wadas earned a bachelor’s degree
in journalism fromArizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of
Journalism and Mass Communication but felt drawn to medicine. After
working for a surgical equipment company, she enrolled at GCU, initially
thinking she would study nursing.
Amentor directed Wadas toward the pre-med program and on a
path more closely aligned with that of her father, a longtime Phoenix
gastroenterologist. She said GCU helped her focus on what she was truly
called to do, after trying public relations and nursing first.
“It’s hard to say it was in one moment when it crystalized for me,” Wadas
said. “As I got older, it was realizing what I loved and what I’m good at, where
my strengths are, and finding a career where I could help people.
“When I got to GCU, it was the people who made me stay. They took a
personal interest in me. That’s pretty incredible, especially coming from a
large school like ASU.”
Wadas was president of the GCU chapter of the AzHOSA health
professions club, which was new at the time but since has grown into the
largest campus club of its kind in the U.S. As she became involved with
networking and community service, Wadas saw she could have an impact as
a physician, just like her father.
Wadas credited Haley Peebles, a GCU faculty member and former
AzHOSA adviser, with recognizing her God-given abilities. Peebles, now
associate director of GCU’s Center for Integrated Science, Engineering
and Technology, saw that Wadas had the interpersonal skills, passion and
grades to go to medical school and pushed her to challenge herself.
“People give up on things or on other people too quickly,” Peebles said. “It’s
nice to see that you can redirect someone’s path and that pointing someone
in the right direction can work out exactly as it’s supposed to if you invest in
people, you’re there and you have their best interests at heart.”
Peebles attended Wadas’ graduation from medical school, and when her
former student gave an impassioned speech on behalf of her class, citing
the need for future doctors, Peebles knew her assessment years ago had
been accurate.
As a medical student, Wadas assisted physicians at the Wesley Center in
Phoenix. The clinic provides services to a low-income, at-risk population, so
she had the opportunity to help heal people without consistent health care or
resources about good health. She imagines her residency will be stellar, too.
“It will certainly be different in New Hampshire, with a different
patient population,” she said. “But what I’ve learned about educating
people about their health, and chronic conditions like diabetes or Chronic
Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder, will remain the same. I really enjoy
teaching people how to achieve a higher quality of life.”
Now, if she could just figure out how to put chains on her tires, the
roads seem to be opening up to Wadas as she motors into a future of
caring for patients.
Good ice-breaker
Wadas plows into her career in medicine with Dartmouth residency
B Y M I C H A E L F E R R A R E S I
EricaWadas, a GCU
alumna and recent
graduate of the
University of Arizona’s
College of Medicine,
is in a residency
program at Dartmouth-
Hitchcock Medical
Center in Lebanon, N.H.
photo by
sarah
priestap
Watch a video about the guidance EricaWadas received
at GCU, her decision to go into medicine and her advice
for freshmen at
VIDEO
