Pearcy '10 Learned 'Other Side' of Medicine in Internship
by Howard W. Hewitt
Chris Pearcy ’10 has always thought he’d like to be a doctor. The Marion, Indiana, biology major is interested in surgery and possibly other areas of medicine. But before the summer of 2007, he’d never thought much about the paper work.  He spent the summer working at Marion General Hospital in his home town as an intern. He was supervised by David Callecod ’89 and part of the summer by Craig Miller ’97.
"There is a lot more that goes into the business side and the administration side of healthcare than I ever even thought of before," Pearcy said. "I thought of surgery, going in and operating on people and that sounds interesting and that’s what I want to do. But then you come here and even just spending a couple of days with Dave or Craig, you learn they’re constantly talking to doctors, having meetings; there is just so much to it. It’s been a great experience learning those things." The former soccer player, who is majoring in Chemistry and considering a double major with Spanish, had a variety of experiences. He worked a specific project for Callecod creating an abbreviation index for the hospital’s imaging center. The tall blonde-haired Marion High School graduate worked with Physician Practices when doctors were recruiting new physicians. Another major project was to review the policy and procedure manual for the imaging center. "Dave wanted me to make sure all those policies and procedures (already in place after the hospital bought the business) still applied. He wanted me to make sure everything was up to date." Pearcy conducted a case costing project on the top 10-15 surgical procedures performed at the hospital. He compared inventory and staffing costs to see why some procedures were more costly to the hospital than others."  Callecod was thrilled to have a Wabash another Wabash man at the hospital and very pleased with Pearcy’s effort.
"Chris was an outstanding addition to our hospital during his time with us," said Callecod, President/CEO of Marion General Hospital. He was eager to learn and had a great work ethic. "Chris again reinforced my belief that a Wabash man, regardless of his major, can be successful in almost any business environment. His ability to quickly process information, take direction and then put that to action was beyond my expectations of an intern." The process was a real eye-opener for Pearcy. "I now have a better knowledge of what the executives are thinking all of the time," he said. "It’s not always doctors disagreeing with administrators or administrators disagreeing with doctors. Both want to do the best that they can. This was an experience of learning its trying to align the goals for both that will make everything work easier." Pearcy learned about the internship opportunity from pre-health advisor Jill Rogers. He knew he probably couldn’t get clinical work as a college sophomore, but is now glad he had the administrative experience. His ties to Wabash started while still in high school. He had played soccer with Callecod’s daughter and knew other Wabash graduates in the Marion area. He had attended an alumni/future student luncheon where he learned about Wabash College. "It was nice this summer to come and work for someone I knew. They understood my capabilities as someone going to Wabash." In photos: At top left, Pearcy in his office near the entrance to Marion General. Lower right, Pearcy spends a moment with Miller '97 going over a report.
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