Music, travel, volunteer work: Future M.D.’s full ‘Akron Experience’

With a love of science, music and language, Isabella Bartholomew felt tugged in many directions when it came time to choose a major. So, she embraced them all, and by the time she is Isabella Bartholomew, M.D., she will be drawing on all her loves in her practice of medicine.

Bartholomew chose biology as her major, with minors in chemistry, music and Spanish. The Buckingham Scholar in the Williams Honors College will graduate in May and head to The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences, where she has been accepted via early admission.

“I am a firm believer that the Renaissance man, or woman, still exists today,” noted Bartholomew to the Board of Trustees during a recent presentation on her Akron Experience. “Although it is beneficial to study the field that you aim to have a career in, I also think that to have a full appreciation of our world, it is necessary to understand and value the importance of arts, sciences and cultures. My Akron Experience is one that shaped me into a multi-faceted, life-long learner.”

Paying it forward

From her earliest days on campus, the 2012 Lake High School graduate embraced all opportunities for learning. She has been involved in a wide variety of campus organizations and experiences — from music to volunteer work to studying abroad. But the organization that means the most to her is DreamAKRON. She and Daniel Crowder, a fellow Buckingham Scholar, founded the organization last year to help at-risk high school students to graduate and be college ready.

Bartholomew admitted the amount of time and effort to launch DreamAKRON surprised her. The pair had to work hard to convince administrators in the Akron Public Schools of the program’s benefits. They received approval to start with students at Kenmore High School.

There are now 24 high school students enrolled in DreamAKRON and Bartholomew and her officers have recruited 40 other honors students to be tutors and mentors. They envision expanding to include more Akron schools in the program and to one day offer scholarships. “My officers are dedicated and driven in what they do,” noted Bartholomew, who has served as DreamAKRON’s first president. “I have full trust that they will continue the vision of this organization.”

Bartholomew also had opportunities to participate in research projects on campus, at Akron Children’s Hospital and Northeast Ohio Medical University.

Learning life lessons

She honed her Spanish skills during trips abroad. In 2013, Bartholomew spent part of the summer living with a host family while studying at La Universidad de Valladolid in Valladolid, Spain.

“I learned more about European history and culture than I ever had in any class in school,” recalled Bartholomew of the experience. “I am a firm believer that the world is the best classroom and life teaches lessons in a way that no teacher could ever emulate.”

In May 2015, she joined an experiential learning trip to El Salvador through the Health Certificates Program in the Department of Modern Languages. The UA students stayed at Love and Hope Children’s Home, spent time with the children and accompanied physicians on their hospital rounds and home visits with patients.

“This trip taught me to appreciate the level of health care that is available in the United States and also gave me the desire to join Doctors without Borders to help treat and educate patients in third-world countries,” said Bartholomew, who also is earning UA’s Certificate in Advanced Spanish for Health Professions. She plans to specialize in obstetrics and gynecology and work in low-income Hispanic communities.

The goals Bartholomew has set for herself do not surprise Dr. Parizad Dejbord Sawan, an associate professor in the Department of Modern Languages and one of the faculty members that the UA student considers a mentor.

“Isabella Bartholomew is one of those rare and superior students that faculty members can only hope to have in their classes,” noted Dejbord Sawan. “This is because Isabella’s motivation to excel academically is not fueled by the desire to obtain a good job or make money. It is driven by the genuine aim to give something back to her world.”