Wheaton College Alumni Magazine Winter 2015 | Page 43

alumni news

“You’re still here?”

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for the least of these
Recognized for her excellence
in teaching and her service to
the community, this physician’s
compassion for the underprivileged
shapes her work—and her life.

by Angelo Campos ’12

Returning patients sometimes ask this
question of Dr. Jule Johnson West ’89,
assistant professor of internal medicine at Vanderbilt University School
of Medicine and a primary-care physician with the United Neighborhood
Health Services (UNHS) clinics.
“Many people who live in poverty
with limited resources or opportunities have a mistrust of any system,” Jule
says. “I think showing up is 90 percent
of my job—continuing to be here and
meeting people where they are.”
In March 2013, Jule was named to the
Vanderbilt Academy for Excellence in
Teaching, and was also recognized for
her “service and education in the community” by medical students from the
Shade Tree Clinic, a Vanderbilt student-run free clinic in Nashville.
Her friend and colleague, Dr. Morgan
McDonald, describes Jule as a “tireless
advocate” for those in ne