From Airplanes to Stethoscopes, UK Medical Student's Career Turnabout Follows Family Tradition

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LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 13, 2014) — After obtaining an undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University, landing a graduate research position at Georgia Tech, and designing jet engine acoustics as a consultant for the Federal Aviation Administration and NASA, Ben Havrilesko decided to plot a new career course.

Wearing light blue scrubs and toting medical science texts across campus, the first-year medical student is today immersed in the mechanics of the human body. When asked about life before medical school, Havrilesko clarifies some misconceptions about his former role as an aeronautical engineer.

"It's an over-romanticized profession," Havrilesko said of aerospace engineering. "It's not rocket science — I could do rocket science, I guess. Airplanes are more difficult."

Originally from Winchester, Kentucky, Havrilesko finds a new purpose in health care — a calling that lured his grandfather into the nursing profession after a long career serving as a chemist and professor. Havrilesko left a secure job and years of training in a highly specialized field to pursue a medical degree at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. His decision was largely inspired by his grandfather Harry Smiley and mother Cheryl Havrilesko, who were both models of service and compassion as he was growing up.

While working as an aeronautical engineer at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Havrilesko logged long hours indoors with little contact with people. He programmed the acoustics of jet engines, with the goal of mitigating noise, working with government agencies as well as private firms including Boeing and Airbus. With many hours sitting in front of a computer desk, he started searching outside the office environment for human-to-human contact. He volunteered with the Children's Hospital of Atlanta where he found some fulfillment. Around that time in 2011, his grandfather passed away, which prompted Havrilesko to rethink his career's direction.

"He was a big inspiration in that," Havrilesko said of his grandfather. "His influence on his community and the fact that he pursued this after having another job really hit home with me — that I could pursue what I was passionate about as well."

A professor and Chair of the Department of Chemistry at Eastern Kentucky University, Harry Smiley also grew tired of the nine to five job. While he was a beloved teacher by his students, he wanted to do more to serve sick people, with a special interest in children. Having already acquired a master's degree and doctorate in chemistry from the University of Kentucky, Smiley graduated from the EKU School of Nursing in 1998. He founded a health clinic for children in Haiti through a missionary group and cared for elderly patients in his community of Richmond, Kentucky.  

"Seeing how he interacted with people and just being friendly all the time — it was just the way he lived," Havrilesko said. "He instilled that in my mom, and she instilled that in me."

Calling his career turnabout a "deep dive," Havrilesko took a couple years of undergraduate courses to meet the prerequisites to apply for medical school.  At first, the decision wasn't welcomed by his wife Danielle, who has since warmed up to the idea of Havrilesko becoming a doctor. Havrilesko finds some common ground in the science of airplanes and the science of medicine. His engineering background allows him to think critically about a disease or disorder in the human body.

"In the area of analytical thinking there is lots of crossover," Havrilesko said. "While in engineering, you are diagnosing a problem, just like diagnosing a patient as a physician. I think that was the best thing I got from engineering."

Havrilesko isn't the only student who has transitioned from a career in engineering to medicine. In fact, his former co-worker at Georgia Tech is currently a medical student at the University of North Carolina. He likes that the medical school allows opportunities through rotations for students to try out different areas before deciding their specialty. While Havrilesko said it's too early to pinpoint his specific path in medicine, he has an interest in surgery and pediatric care, like his grandfather.

"Some people are on a set path, they know exactly what they want to do and they know what they have wanted to do since they were born," Havrilesko said. "I just wasn't like that."

MEDIA CONTACT: Elizabeth Adams, elizabethadams@uky.edu