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Securing the United Nations building in Baghdad wasone of Mercurio’s most memorable times as a Marine.“By the time we got there, the walls had been stripped.It took some time to clear the hundreds of looters outof the building andclaim it as our(temporary)headquarters,”Mercurio said.He said the entireoperation fromKuwait to Tikrit tookabout 23 days.Mercurio choseWesternU because ofthe uniqueinterdisciplinaryapproach the schooloffers and becausebecoming a familynurse practitionerStephen Dolinkowill allow him more vocational freedom. He usesvocational rehabilitation to help pay for his education.★ ★ ★ ★Along with Mercurio, Stephen Dolinko, DVM ’13,Lawrence Ebel, DMD ’14, and David Gordon Otis,DO ’14, all see the military as a place they learnedresponsibility, and that has helped them to succeed asgraduate students at WesternU.Dolinko joined the Navy in 1997, straight out of highschool, because he couldn’t afford college. He tookenough course work while in the Navy to get a degreein electrical engineering, but “While I enjoyelectronics, biological systems appealed to me more,”he said.Dolinko received degrees in neuroscience andpsychology before becoming a student at WesternU.He said the Navy wanted him to become a nuclearengineer, but he did not want that type of life, so hepursued medicine. The Navy has corpsmen, but doesnot offer veterinary medicine.Dolinko was deployed to Iraq in 2003, part of theinitial invasion of Operation IraqiFreedom. He was an ET3(electronics technician thirdclass) saying his “positionwas considered realimportant.”He was in charge of makingsure battle groups communicatedand that ground forces got correctmessages and traffic information. He alsorepaired equipment and had the clearanceto interpret messages.The military taught Dolinko how to dealwith people in stressful situations and notbe distracted while many things are goingon, he said. He was honorably dischargedin September 2004, exhausted his GI Bill,and has been using vocational rehabilitation funding.“I chose WesternU because I like the third and fourthyears. I like doing things that are more hands-on. I likeinteracting with patients the first weeks we are here,”he said.★ ★ ★ ★Third-year College of Dental Medicine studentLawrence Ebel finished his eight years in the ArmyReserves as a captain in February 2012.At the end of 2005, Ebel went through the OfficerBasic Course, worked for six months while thinkingabout dental school, then worked on his prerequisiteswhen he was deployed in September 2006 to Iraq,where he stayed for one year.Ebel says they were in a pretty “hot area” in Ramadi,west of Baghdad, where he was a support platoonleader, part of a route-clearing battalion that droveContinued on page 1514 Western University of Health Sciences
oads looking for IEDs, picked up parts, and assistedthose with broken-down vehicles.“It wasreally coolto be thereat thattime,” Ebelsaid. “Itchanged alot in thetime wewerethere.”DuringEbel’s timein Iraq, hesays theimams gottogether,decided they were tired of fighting, and startedhelping the U.S. get rid of Al Qaeda and the otherforeign fighters.“By the time we left, it was a pretty safearea,” Ebel said. “I think when we left,there had not been an attack or IED onthe street in probably a month.”He chose WesternU, even though theCollege of Dental Medicine hadn’topened yet, because the faculty wanted totreat him as a professional from day one.“That appealed to me, especially comingfrom the military and being inleadership,” he said. “It had been awhilesince I was a student, so I felt like thiswould be a real good place to fit in, workwith teachers and have that relationship.”COMP Dean Clinton Adams, DO, aretired rear admiral in the Navy, says theLawrence EbelDavid OtisUniversity has done a good job of not turning its backon transitioning military, and there is no reason tochange that record.“We have constantly had our radar on forapplicants with military service history,”Adams said of applicants to COMP.“Consequently, we have enjoyed theenrichment of our academic cultureby having several veterans each year inclass.”★ ★ ★ ★Third-year COMP student David Gordon Otisjoined the Air Force in 2004 as a munitionsspecialist at age 19, assembling non-nuclear bombsand missiles.“Every type of bomb, missile or other non-nuclearmunitions that went on a plane, we assembled,stored, inspected and transported,” he said.The military is part of the Otis family. Hisgrandfather was in the Army Air Corps, serving in theEuropean theatre during WWII as an aircraft enginemechanic. His fatherwas a musicianin the Navybandduring hisfirstenlistment,and was an inflightmechanicduring his secondenlistment. His olderbrother was inlightweightmechanic school inthe Army duringSept. 11, thenvolunteered tobecome a Ranger.His youngest brotherlater enlisted as a medical material specialist in the AirForce.Continued on page 16WesternU View Summer 2012 15
Page 1 and 2: Magazine of Western University of H
Page 3 and 4: S U M M E R 2 0 1 2WESTERNUViewCHAN
Page 5 and 6: Message from the PresidentHello eve
Page 7 and 8: Message from theSenior Vice Preside
Page 9 and 10: CO students Nehal Verma, left, Conn
Page 11 and 12: present College of Veterinary Medic
Page 13 and 14: said. About 55 percent of patients
Page 15: Seth Mercurio didn’t always want
Page 19 and 20: EAST WEST SCHOLARSHIP DINNER 2012Th
Page 21 and 22: years. Most states require some vis
Page 23 and 24: think in the future it will be a dr
Page 25 and 26: MESSAGE FROM THE DEANCollege ofAlli
Page 27 and 28: MESSAGE FROM THE DEANCollege ofGrad
Page 29 and 30: MESSAGE FROM THE DEANCollege ofDent
Page 31 and 32: MESSAGE FROM THE DEANCollege ofPodi
Page 33 and 34: WesternU View Summer 2012 31
Page 35 and 36: where he works one day a week and w
Page 37 and 38: sportswriter Grantland Rice’s fam
Page 39 and 40: “Tosee many COMP graduates going
Page 41 and 42: WesternU View Summer 2012 39
Page 43 and 44: PROFILEWhile taking pictures, I not
Page 45 and 46: A GUARANTEED INCOMEFor the rest of
Page 47 and 48: Health’s AngelsRiding Group Helps
Page 49 and 50: COMP’s administrationobstacles th
Page 51 and 52: think of things other than yourself
Page 53 and 54: A Decade of Successfor GNP/ICP Tour
Page 55 and 56: Alumni Class NotesHenry Watkins, DO
Page 57 and 58: Alumni EventsAugust 2-5: American C
Page 59 and 60: COVER ARTPhoto illustration by Jeff

PURSUiNG MEdicAl cAREERS AFtER SERviNG thEiR cOUNtRy

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