For 2007 Tech graduate, Dr. Terin (Euerle) Sytsma, medical education is what it’s all about. And the Mayo Clinic couldn’t be a better place to teach and learn about it.
Long before working at Mayo, Sytsma began career planning while in high school. In fact, it was during her college and career preparation at Tech that she discovered she liked the combination of science and interacting with people and health.
“Kerry Koepp and Robert Boatz were my mentors in school,” says Sytsma. “They had great classes, were supportive and enthusiastic. It was such a good experience in those classes. It’s why I majored in chemistry and math.”
Sytsma remembers cribbage tournaments in Boatz’s class after AP tests and lots of different experiments and “toys” in Koepp’s class.
She believes, however, it was engaging in school activities such as volleyball, basketball and softball that taught her the bulk of life lessons about working hard and having a passion for what you do.
Following high school, she attended St. Olaf College where she played basketball and majored in math and chemistry prior to attending medical school at Mayo. There, she specialized in internal medicine.
Currently, Sytsma is in her residency at Mayo for internal medicine.
Why is she so passionate about medicine?
Sytsma explains, “[Because] every time I can work with a patient and diagnose something, it can help their quality of life.”
It’s not just the patients that Sytsma is passionate about; it’s also new medical students. She loves teaching medicine.
Five to 10 years down the road, she sees herself in internal medicine and hopes to continue teaching new residents and students.
Sytsma believes shadowing people in health careers is one of the best ways to learn about medicine and patients. She encourages students to take opportunities when they are available.
She says, “Being happy in life is also doing things you love.”
For Sytsma, that’s both medicine and education.