MEMBERS
from Michigan for us. Everyone’s talkative and friendly.
For the first few months, I couldn’t figure out why so
many people were talking to me. But, we really came
to like it here.”
Dr. Turcu began her career at the Children’s Hos-
pital working nights and weekends to accommodate
an unusual set of circumstances. Her husband had
transplanted himself to a position in Evansville, In.,
and commuted half of each week.
The family pushed through this commuter phase
for three to four years. As Adrian grew up, Dr. Turcu
transitioned to a daytime practice. In 2011, she had
the opportunity to join the group of faculty teaching
at the Medical School. She started giving lectures on
embryology and its strong clinical relationship with
neonatology. “They began revamping the curriculum,
and wanted to bring more clinical information to the
pre-clinical part. It literally fell in my lap, but I abso-
lutely love it and I think the students do too.”
Dr. Turcu explained that the hybrid course she’s in-
volved with merges anatomy and clinical examination.
Students study each organ system, where it comes from
and how they will see it in a real patient. “We feel that
giving students a picture for every organ system allows
them to understand it more fully. That’s the direction
medical education is moving towards.”
While she anticipates more teaching in her future,
a new factor could change their lives significantly. Six
years ago, Razvan Turcu decided that he’d had quite
enough of finance and wanted instead to pursue med-
icine. After a two-year pre-medicine program, he was
accepted at the UofL School of Medicine and began a
much belated medical career.
“He’s graduating in May,” Dr. Turcu said. “We’ll find
out where he matches soon, and I’ll be right next to
him on Match Day. There’s nothing guaranteed until
you open the envelope, but we might be moving. It’s
a cliffhanger, but it won’t be the first one in our lives.”
Their son, Adrian, will also be studying medicine
at Brown University in Rhode Island. Despite all of the
work she’s done for her patients, Dr. Turcu remains
most proud of her son. “I’m looking at him and think-
ing I must have done something good to deserve my
child. I’m proud of who he is, his personality and his
choices. We raised probably our best friend, which is
pretty cool when you think about it.”
Two decades ago, the Turcu family was working
diligently in Romania and welcoming a new baby boy
into the world. Today, all three are embarking on new
endeavors and planning to use their gifts to help others.
Although the future will always hold uncertainties, Dr.
Turcu and her family have planted themselves firmly in
the present, holding tightly to the “normal lives” that
once seemed an impossible dream.
Aaron Burch is the communications specialist for the
Greater Louisville Medical Society.
MARCH 2018
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