Learning a matter for life say graduates
When Cam Bowman steps on stage to receive his medical degree this month he'll be on familiar territory.
Bowman has racked up thousands of hours on stages across North America in his 10 years as a professional musician with the Juno Award-winning band, Barney Bentall and the Legendary Hearts.
Trained in classical music on a piano his grandparents rented for him, he switched to rock and roll in high school and started dreaming of going professional. His wish came true right after graduation when he got his first job with a band as a keyboard player.
Life as a professional musician was exciting but it competed with another of Bowman's goals -- he wanted to be a doctor.
"When I was a kid we had an encyclopedia with those transparent overlay pages that illustrated the human body -- nerves, muscles, internal organs -- everything," he says. "I was fascinated with those illustrations. I wanted to know how everything worked."
He enrolled in pre-med studies at Simon Fraser University and started looking for a group he could play with part-time. He found one called the Revengers, later to become the Bentall band.
When the group got a record deal with Columbia, Bowman abandoned student life and once again hit the road.
He spent the next 10 years with the group, making three albums and travelling coast to coast.
At age 30, Bowman knew he was ready to leave the band and pick up his studies. He completed another year of pre-med and entered UBC medical school in 1995 as a mature student.
"It was kind of intimidating. I've never been a super straight-A student," he says. "But medicine isn't rocket science -- it's just hard work."
Singing with and directing the UBC Medical Student choir has allowed him to mix music and medicine.
He'll soon have a chance to put his creativity to work again -- but this time not at the keyboard. He's been accepted to a five-year residency in plastic surgery at UBC.
"I'm nervous, honoured and excited all at the same time," he says. "I love surgery and I love the feeling of doing something active and constructive."
For a man with talented hands it seems to hit the right note.