If you’ve ever doubted the power of mentoring, a quick conversation with Kevin Thomas, MD, will change your mind.
“Being a physician wasn’t even a glimmer in my brain until after I had already started college,” says Thomas, who is now an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology. "I know that I wouldn’t be a doctor without the grace of God and certain people I encountered at critical junctures in my life."
Thomas is now passing forward the power of mentoring by serving as the associate director of the CTSA-supported TL1 program. This program provides financial and mentoring assistance to medical students who spend two years in the Duke Clinical Research Training Program (CRTP), earning a Master of Health Sciences (MHS).
In a Q & A with Duke Translational Medicine Institute, Dr. Thomas discusses working at an institution that allows him to combine research, clinical care, and the mentoring of the next generation of physician scientists.