DR . WHO Michael Krease , DO by KATHRYN VANCE
Growing up in Detroit , Michigan Dr . Michael Krease got used to cold temperatures , and being surrounded by intense college and professional sports fandom . He decided to forego the closer-to-home option of the University of Michigan and instead went with in-state rival , Michigan State University , for his undergraduate degree . As a Spartan , he double majored in human biology and physiology . With his northerner roots , he never thought he ’ d end up as far south as Louisville , Kentucky , but what he did know for sure was that medicine would be his future .
“ Ever since I was a kid , it was the only thing I ever remember wanting to do . I never even thought about anything else . I always liked science and the human body , and it just seemed like a natural fit .”
Preparing for medical school , he applied across the country to various programs . However , when his first acceptance letter came back from the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine in Lewisburg , West Virginia , he cancelled all his other applications and took the leap . In moving to a city with a population nearly 200 times smaller than Detroit , he was in for quite a change .
“ It was definitely a little weird . Definitely a big change . But it was kind of nice being in such a small town because we got to know
our classmates so easily and that made it easy to study together and hang out on the weekends with people in the same situation as you . There were definitely no distractions with the town being so small .”
Despite that claim , he did face a distraction in his second year , a fellow medical student named Megan Thompson . Rather than actually becoming a detriment to each other ’ s studies , though , they strengthened each other and motivated each other to work harder to attain their common goals . A few years later , with residency in mind and a two-year relationship to consider , they applied through the Couples Match and ranked programs throughout the U . S . they hoped to call their home for the next several years . They matched in 2013 at Oklahoma State University in Tulsa , Oklahoma , packed up and headed west .
“ We had both done rotations there and loved it - the program , the people , the city - all of it , really . We were nervous to see what Oklahoma held for us but were excited for the new chapter .”
Megan began her pediatrics residency while he went into internal medicine . “ I always knew I wanted to do internal medicine . Internists always seemed like the smartest docs to me ,” he laughed . “ I started my internal medicine residency thinking that ’ s what I was going to do for sure and then very quickly , maybe six months in , I realized I didn ’ t want to do that . But I wouldn ’ t trade the training and the experience for anything . That internal medicine foundation
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