Mother and Son are Medical Students at OU-COM
Editor's Note: For more information, please contact Kevin M. Sanders, writer/editor, at (740) 593-0896.
ATHENS, Ohio (August 13, 2000) -- To a lot of students, the idea of going to medical school with your
mother or with your son may not be the most appealing thought. After all,
even siblings who attend the same school often dread comparisons to each
other.
But for Rita and Philip Roberts, who this fall will become the first
mother and son to simultaneously attend Ohio University College of
Osteopathic Medicine (OU-COM), learning together is second nature.
The Lucasville natives have attended classes together, pushed each
other and even been lab partners at Shawnee State University in Portsmouth.
In 1982, Rita wrote an article that featured a picture of Philip at age 5
for Nursing Life magazine. So, that they would end up living in apartments
next to each other in Athens as they tackle the challenges of medical school
isn't really such a farfetched notion.
For Rita Roberts, 44, attending medical school "has always been in
the back of my mind." Other things got in the way, however. Neither of
Rita's parents obtained a high school education; she stops short of saying
they didn't value education, but probably did not place as high a priority
on it as she does. Then, she married at 18 and became a mother at 21.
Still, Rita received an associate degree in nursing from Ohio
University in 1975, then attended the college of Mt. St. Joseph in
Cincinnati to obtain her Pediatric Nurse Practitioner certificate in 1978.
She earned a bachelor of general studies from Ohio University in 1987. But
to prepare for medical school and the Medical College Admission Test years
later, she felt she had to take some science and premed courses. So, she
enrolled at Shawnee State where Philip joined her on the premedicine path.
"As difficult as medical school is there is not a question in my
mind that I am on the right path," she said. "Staying away from my family
has been tremendously difficult this year, but something this important and
fulfilling is worth the sacrifice. Philip will find his own way, but I'll be
there to help in any way I can."
The two had attended the same school before at Pike County's Piketon
High School where they both tied for first in their respective classes, but
their graduation dates were more than 20 years apart: Rita graduated in 1973
and Philip graduated in 1995. At Shawnee State, it was a different story.
Together they took such classes as advanced human anatomy, physics and
genetics. As lab partners they dissected an unattached arm.
"We have pushed each other," Philip said. It paid off. They received
the same grades: A's.
But how has it been for him, now 23, to go to school with his
mother? "It's all been good. It gives you another incentive to be the best
you can be."
Their classroom paths may not cross much at OU-COM. Rita is entering
her second year at OU-COM in the fall. Philip, after a year in Americorps as
a Vista volunteer helping with immunizations with 2,000 southern Ohio
children age 3 and under, will begin his first year of study in September.
Rita hopes to pursue family practice and preventive health, possibly
specializing in women's medicine. Philip, who initially majored in plastics
engineering, became fascinated with the medical field while at Shawnee, and
he received his bachelor of science in biology-premed in 1999. He
anticipates going back to a rural setting, such as in southern Ohio, to
practice.
And who knows, "Maybe we'll hook up and have our own family
practice," he said.
The two have had support from their family, but the family, of
course, has its own pursuits. Husband Mike is a manager at Mill's Pride, a
cabinet manufacturer in Waverly. Daughter Jessica is studying physical
therapy at Shawnee State, and another son, Nathan, starts at Shawnee State
in the fall, with an interest in computers.
"I want my kids to do whatever makes them happy, but I really
encourage them to get a good education, and I believe they can change their
minds as many times as they want in this life," Rita said. "I want Philip to
do whatever makes him happy, so I tried not to push him toward medicine just
because I loved it. When I saw him searching that summer after his first
year of plastics engineering, I gave him a gentle push toward medicine. He
took it from there, and I believe he honestly loves it as much as I do."
With that kind of support, it is no wonder that Philip said he
doesn't find it at all strange to go to school with his mother. But does he
ever get kidded about it by his other classmates?
"No, and it wouldn't bother me if they did," he said. "It's just
been such a good experience so far."
Philip and Rita Roberts, the first son and mother to attend OU-COM,
prepare for classes in this fall. Rita is beginning her second year of
medical school; Philip starts his first. This is not the first time that
the Lucasville natives have been in school together. They were lab
partners at Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, where Philip graduated
in 1999.
