DO - Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine

Kerwyn Flowers
the ministry of medicine
By Mary Reed
Ministering to people has been at the root of Kerwyn Flowers’
lifework—from her stint as a 12-year-old Sunday school teacher
to a medical school tutor to a doctor of osteopathic medicine.
“God gives us gifts,” says Flowers, who received her medical
degree from the Ohio University College of Osteopathic
Medicine June 2. “I think being a physician is a ministry
within itself. Physicians are engaged in every aspect of their
patients’ lives—they encourage, they counsel, they listen and
so much more. In my opinion, physicians don’t heal, but rather,
God gives us the opportunity and privilege to facilitate healing.”
Even at a young age Flowers was resolved that her life’s work
would focus on health and healing. The support of her
mother, Sharon Smiley Gainous—the pastor of New Israel
Church of Jesus Christ in Quincy, Florida—was a foundation for
Flowers’ success in medical school. “My mother said you
could be whatever you wanted to be. From the beginning she
has always believed in me and supported me.” Flowers also
observed her mother’s role as a teacher to the church
congregation, and Flowers even dabbled in teaching Sunday
school as a girl herself. It turns out that she was a natural
teacher, a gift that would serve her well years later in
medical school.
After graduating with a degree in chemistry from Florida
A&M University, Flowers worked as a chemist for
GlaxoSmithKline and Lannett Pharmaceuticals. When she
decided it was time to attend
medical school, she needed more
background in biological sciences.
That’s when Flowers enrolled in
the OU-COM Summer Scholars
Program, a rigorous six-week
medical school preparatory
program for underrepresented
minority students, and then the
Post-Baccalaureate Program, a
similar preparatory program that
lasts one academic year.
Flowers says she had never heard
of osteopathic medicine prior to
coming to OU-COM. But when
a friend introduced her to the
osteopathic principles of approaching
the whole person, Flowers was
sold. “The philosophy was so similar
to what I had always believed
about health and wellness.”
After excelling in the Summer Scholars and Post-Baccalaureate
programs, Flowers became a tutor and mentor for both.
“Name it, I tutored it,” she says. She also became a mentor
to first-year medical students as part of a program called
COMrade. When she won COMrade of the Year in 2005,
she was surprised—but she shouldn’t have been. “I tutored a
lot of them,” she says, figuring that “all of the students who
I tutored voted for me!” But in fact, she received even more
votes than that.
During that time, Flowers also served as president of the
OU-COM Chapter of the Christian Medical and Dental
Association. She organized a Bible study group every Wednesday
night. “I tried to make sure the topics were relevant to people
of our age group and (were) topics specific to physicians.”
Now about to begin a residency in family medicine at Akron
City Hospital, Flowers is embarking on yet a new ministry
and believes that by becoming a physician, her destiny and
purpose are fulfilled. She will bring her faith with her to every
patient interaction. “I think faith gives us hope beyond
our circumstances.”
Flower‘s mother, left, and 25 members of her childhood church
congregation from Quincy, Fla., were in Athens to see Flowers,
center, receive her medical degree June 2.
10 www.oucom.ohio.edu