Laura Wingert, MD ’17
Akron Children’s Hospital
Specialty: Pediatrics
Hometown: Hanover Township, PA
Laura Wingert, MD '17 of Hanover Township always sees the “up” side of things. Her speech is peppered with enthusiasm and joy about her varied experiences and the people she’s met along the way. If there’s one downside to her accent on the positive, it’s that it made choosing a medical specialty difficult for Dr. Wingert.
Most third-year students – exposed to the six core specialties of medicine in-depth for the first time – find there are areas of medicine they love and others they loathe. Dr. Wingert had a different experience. “I loved everything,” she said. “Third year was so exciting because I finally got to work with patients. During every rotation, I thought, ‘I can see myself doing this.’” Finally, however, the time for choosing came and Dr. Wingert said, “I found myself most passionate about pediatrics. I was always most excited about going to my pediatrics rotation.”
Dr. Wingert will head to Akron Children’s Hospital this summer to begin her three-year pediatrics residency – another thing she talks about with great zeal. “I did a fourth-year rotation at Akron,” she said. “I loved everything about the pediatrics program there. I enjoyed spending time with all the residents I met and look forward to now working alongside of them.”
Feeling at home is important to Dr. Wingert. In fact, she cites it as a main reason for choosing to attend Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. “I watched the school being built and I remember thinking, ‘It will be ready when I am.’ Plus, being so close to my family was a real draw. Medical school was the most trying thing I’ve ever been through and it was nice to have family support, a home-cooked meal, just the chance to talk to people not in medicine.”
In a way, Dr. Wingert said, she gained a second family through the faculty and staff at Geisinger Commonwealth. “Being at Geisinger Commonwealth just felt right. The support system at the school is second-to-none,” she said. “Community faculty members taught me to love medicine because I saw how well they know their patients.”
Hometown: Hanover Township, PA
Laura Wingert, MD '17 of Hanover Township always sees the “up” side of things. Her speech is peppered with enthusiasm and joy about her varied experiences and the people she’s met along the way. If there’s one downside to her accent on the positive, it’s that it made choosing a medical specialty difficult for Dr. Wingert.
Most third-year students – exposed to the six core specialties of medicine in-depth for the first time – find there are areas of medicine they love and others they loathe. Dr. Wingert had a different experience. “I loved everything,” she said. “Third year was so exciting because I finally got to work with patients. During every rotation, I thought, ‘I can see myself doing this.’” Finally, however, the time for choosing came and Dr. Wingert said, “I found myself most passionate about pediatrics. I was always most excited about going to my pediatrics rotation.”
Dr. Wingert will head to Akron Children’s Hospital this summer to begin her three-year pediatrics residency – another thing she talks about with great zeal. “I did a fourth-year rotation at Akron,” she said. “I loved everything about the pediatrics program there. I enjoyed spending time with all the residents I met and look forward to now working alongside of them.”
Feeling at home is important to Dr. Wingert. In fact, she cites it as a main reason for choosing to attend Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. “I watched the school being built and I remember thinking, ‘It will be ready when I am.’ Plus, being so close to my family was a real draw. Medical school was the most trying thing I’ve ever been through and it was nice to have family support, a home-cooked meal, just the chance to talk to people not in medicine.”
In a way, Dr. Wingert said, she gained a second family through the faculty and staff at Geisinger Commonwealth. “Being at Geisinger Commonwealth just felt right. The support system at the school is second-to-none,” she said. “Community faculty members taught me to love medicine because I saw how well they know their patients.”
