In June of this past summer, Notre Dame senior William Ballew represented Notre Dame and the State of Michigan at the Congress of Future Medical Leaders in Boston, Massachusetts. Ballew and other high school students from across the country were instructed by some of the greatest minds in medicine, including Nobel Prize winner Dr. Jack Szostak, Presidential Medal of Freedom and National Medal of Science recipient Dr. Francis Collins, and the deans of both Georgetown and Harvard's medical schools.
Students are chosen by Cambridge, Mass.-based The National Academies, sponsor of the Congress, based on the fact that they aspire to become physicians, scientists or technologists (including biomedical scientists, software and hardware technologists, engineers, and mathematicians); they possess leadership potential; and they have a GPA of 3.5 or above.
According to Robert Darling, MD, FACEP, medical director of The National Academies, who also served as White House physician to the President of the United States from 1996 to 1999, Ballew was surrounded by many fellow high school students who shared his passion, ability and potential. “So many delegates found new friends to help them reach their dreams and future colleagues to collaborate with,” Darling said. “He watched live surgery and many delegates had a chance to question the surgeon in real time.”
Darling said that Ballew was personally taught by some of the greatest living minds in medicine and winners of the world's most prestigious international prizes, including the aforementioned Szostak and Collins as well as Dr. Mario Capecchi, winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, recipient of the 2001 National Medal of Science, winner of the 2001 Lasker Award and winner of the 2003 Wolf Prize in Medicine; and Dr. Ferid Murad, winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and winner of the 1996 Lasker Award.
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.