Ehresman heads to The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Growing up, Jeff Ehresman saw all the long hours and hard work his father put into his medical practice in Holdrege, Nebraska. Jeff certainly didn’t want to do that, at least that's what he thought. Then he took a church sponsored mission trip to Haiti, and saw a child with hydrocephalus, a condition that causes fluid buildup in the brain and head swelling. It was a pivotal moment for him.

It was then he was hooked on learning all he could about the brain, hence why he chose neuroscience as his major. “I don’t know why everyone isn’t fascinated about the brain… there’s a lot we still don’t know,” Jeff said. Jeff hopes to combine research on the brain and with a medical practice. He got a lot of experience in Dr. Jeff French’s behavioral neuroscience laboratory. Jeff also currently serves as president of Nu Rho Psi, a student honorary society for neuroscience students. The group sponsors workshops and panels and brings in guest speakers. “I wish I had exposure to Nu Rho Psi when I was a freshman.”

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education’s 2016 Almanac, 20 percent of all incoming college students come into the university hoping to get into medical school. Few make it. Jeff’s advice: “It takes a very different type of student to have that kind of dedication. You have to have the grades, the volunteer experience, the research, the shadowing, the letters of recommendation.” Not everybody makes it. For those people, Jeff suggests exploring what it is that made them think they wanted to be doctors in the first place; often, it’s because these students wanted to help others. “Being a doctor is a noble thing, but it might not be their noble thing. There are other pre-health professions and other majors that might do just that,” Jeff adds.

And, Jeff made it. After graduating in May 2016, he’s off to Baltimore, Maryland, to study medicine at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.