alumniConnections
In case you didn’t know, 594 — give or take a few.
That’s how many “kids” Ronald Flenner, MD, has, and he can tell you about each and every one.
Of course, those “kids” are first- through fourth-year students making their way through the EVMS Doctor of Medicine program. Dr. Flenner (MD ’89), the James E. Etheridge Jr. Distinguished Professor in Internal Medicine and Professor of Internal Medicine, doesn’t take his role as Vice Dean of Academic Affairs lightly.
“He devotes an astonishing amount of time, thought and energy to making sure every EVMS student gets a quality education,” says Ann Campbell, PhD, Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Cell Biology. “Students and all those who have the privilege of working with him admire his extraordinary dedication and personal integrity.”
The chairs outside Dr. Flenner’s office are rarely empty.
Between clinical duties with Internal Medicine and academic responsibilities that include overseeing curriculum implementation, Dr. Flenner meets with all medical students to make sure they are on the right path toward residency. They talk about grades, class performance, clinical rotations, patient experiences and personal obstacles. He knows their career goals, their strengths and their weaknesses. He helps them celebrate victories and coaches them through defeats. While soft-spoken, Dr. Flenner isn’t afraid to have the hard conversations.
“Sometimes it isn’t easy for them to hear me discuss the need to consider a parallel plan or diversifying their choices for residency, but it’s an important conversation to have,” Dr. Flenner says. “I want all students to secure a match and ideally for them to obtain their first choice.”
Dr. Flenner’s passion for residency preparation led him to work alongside EVMS Alumni Relations to develop the widely successful Mock Interviews program. Each year, he helps match participating third-year students with the appropriate faculty and alumni interviewers for a practice run of the high-stakes residency-match interview process.
But the lessons for his “kids” go well beyond the interview process.
“Perhaps the most important life lesson I learned from Dr. Flenner,” Saïd Charbel Azoury, MD (MD ’11) says, “is to always remain down-to-earth and humble in your everyday interactions with patients and also in your academic pursuit.”
Now a Halsted Surgery Resident at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Dr. Azoury says he was inspired by the passion Dr. Flenner brings to his work.
“You can tell a lot about Dr. Flenner by the start of a conversation with him. He always begins by asking ‘How are you?’ because that is the type of person he is,” Dr. Azoury says. “He cares about his students and alumni and wants the best for them. The future of the medical school is bright, and the trajectory is impressive with Dr. Flenner along for the ride.”
