It also compelled him to return to the United States to pursue a master's degree in public health from Johns Hopkins. "Public health is a way of helping more people in a broader but no less important way," he explains.

Five years ago, Fitzpatrick came to Minnesota, where he could be closer to his tight-knit family (he and his five siblings all ran together in the Twin Cities Marathon last year) and prepare for medical school. 

Now, in his third year, doing clinical rotations, Fitzpatrick says it's all coming together. Psychology, theology, and public health provide him with a personal, spiritual, and political way of understanding health care's shortcomings as well as its promise.

"Medicine will stimulate me on all levels," says Fitzpatrick. "It will allow me to be with others in the most joyous and challenging periods in their lives. I couldn't ask for more in a career."

Craig Eckfeldt:
Blending intellect and passion

Those who knew Craig Eckfeldt shortly after college, when he worked for six months in "the oil business" (changing oil for Jiffy Lube) and as a "builder" (working as a carpenter’s assistant), might be surprised that he ended up in the University of Minnesota’s M.D./Ph.D. program. They’d be equally surprised to learn that he quickly distinguished himself among his highly talented peers with groundbreaking hematopoietic stem cell research at the University’s Stem Cell Institute.

And their surprise would likely please Eckfeldt, whose regular-guy charm easily belies his sharp intellect and passion for science.

It is precisely this balance that makes him the ideal physician-scientist, according to Tucker LeBien, Ph.D., director of the University’s Medical Scientist Training Program. "Craig is very genuine, very smart. He’s got the personal and professional skill set that predicts success," says LeBien, who is also deputy director of the Cancer Center. "He is committed to both the practice of medicine and the conduct of research."

The self-effacing Eckfeldt says he's somewhat mystified by his success. "It was a series of serendipitous events," he says. "A lot of it has to do with recognizing opportunity, not trying to paddle upstream. In some ways, it’s better to be lucky than good."

In truth, Eckfeldt should claim more credit. For his Ph.D., he identified what he describes as "a handful of candidate genes that may ultimately be important to the process of stem cell regeneration." In other words, his research brought science a step or two closer to figuring out how to make stem cells in the lab—vital progress in the search for cancer treatments and cures. The results have been published in PLoS Biology and in Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology.

"Research on developing new practical therapies is fascinating," says Eckfeldt, who is currently doing clinical rotations and begins his internal medicine residency in June. "But I need something to keep the fire going, and that’s the clinical aspect—trying to draw on that experience to figure out what questions to ask in the lab.

"My greatest source of satisfaction and motivation," he adds, "is the realization that it doesn’t require a revolutionary new scientific discovery to work with patients and their families to improve their quality of life."  

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