“I would have failed as a sister if I ever let her limit or doubt herself.”
And so, Samantha Lundgren DeChene ’22 didn’t. She poked, prodded, invited and inspired her younger sister – offering guidance, advice and mentorship that led Emma Lundgren ’24 all the way to medical school.
Getting not just information but encouragement from an advisor and mentor can change the world for a student. And while we can’t guarantee a big sister for every incoming student, Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s are committed to our best approximation with the personalized advising of a True North Team.
When future Bennies and Johnnies arrive on these campuses to begin their new True North Journeys, they’ll be packing two critical tools to help them along the way – focused, relationship-based advising and mentorship from that True North Team and high-impact, hands-on experiential learning.
While the True North Journey format is a radical reimagining of the way we deliver those experiences and services, neither of them are new here. We’re making moves to make sure each of our students not only finds those opportunities but can see themselves thriving and succeeding in them.
That matters. And anyone who doubts the impact of personal advice and hands-on learning can just ask Emma.
Start exploring early
Emma didn’t start out at Saint Ben’s on a pre-med track. Her big sister picked up on that pretty quickly.
“She was like, why?” recalls Emma. “Why don’t you want to do the pre-med route?”
Emma was hesitant. In part, she was reluctant to copy her big sister as a pre-med – she’d already followed her to CSB. But beyond that, she wasn’t sure if she even had it in her. It meant a lot when Samantha told her, “I think you could go all the way if you wanted to.”
So Emma began exploring. She discovered that the Saint John’s EMT Squad offers training pathways to EMT certification for volunteers and “kind of on a whim” she layered those classes on top of her first-year class load.
“Through that I kind of got to feel what it was like to be an actual provider of care and make decisions – having some degree of autonomy.”
At the same time, Samantha was working as a scribe in the emergency room at St. Cloud Hospital. Emma remembers, “She said ‘You should come do this with me and see if you like it. You get to see and describe what a physician does – you’re basically their shadow and you write down everything they do.”
Emma continued volunteering with the EMT Squad and working as an ER scribe throughout her time at Saint Ben’s.
Looking back, “It was really beneficial for me to start scribing freshman year versus senior year because it showed longevity in a position and that I was dedicated to staying there,” says Emma. “It’s those kinds of things that you have to do to set yourself apart to get into med school. And I had no idea, had Samantha not told me.
“Experimenting at the beginning of college – that’s where you figure out what you like and what you’re interested in. Getting the EMT certification and doing the scribing was how I found out I wanted to go pre-med instead of nursing. And I don’t think I would have figured that out just by whether I did well in my chemistry classes or not, because that has nothing to do with whether I would like my profession.”
Hear those voices everywhere
Samantha was in Emma’s ear a lot in those early days. “She was encouraging me the whole time,” says Emma. “I didn’t understand what I was doing in chemistry – the road maps and the horrible PSAs – and I’d go to her apartment saying ‘Help me, teach me, I don’t know what to do, I’m not smart enough for this…’ And she was like, “No. You are. 100%.”
But as influential as her sister’s voice was, it wasn’t the only guidance Emma was receiving.
Professor of biology and pre-med advisor Mani Campos was able to steer her course load in directions that are paying dividends now. “I was a biology major, so there were a number of classes I could have taken,” she says. “He was there to tell me ‘Here are the ones you’re going to want to have seen before med school.’ And looking at it now, they make learning them a second time a lot easier.”
Campos was a steady voice in pointing out what is possible and making things work. “The fact I was able to pack a pre-med program, the Honors program, a Hispanic studies minor and a semester abroad (in Chile) into four years was like a puzzle to him,” she laughs.
That semester in Chile ended up leading Emma to connect with another important mentor. Kim Tjaden, MD, is a family medicine doctor at CentraCare in St. Cloud, who does volunteer work with free health clinics in Central Minnesota sponsored by Fe y Justicia.
“Her daughter and I were friends as young kids, we go to the same church. I’ve known her forever, and she’s totally been a mentor for me,” says Emma. “And I reached out because I wanted to shadow her for family medicine. She said, ‘Oh my gosh, you speak Spanish, you should come with me and interpret for us.’”
The experience not only provided another standout point on her medical school application, but it also fueled the curiosity and passion she had developed around immigration and social justice during her time in Chile.
Put it all together
As Emma rolled into her senior year, Campos was there to show her the MCAT practice tests that were available to her. Samantha was there with hard-won tips on how to fill out a winning application to medical school.
The resources, opportunities and advice had all been there – and she’d grabbed hold of a lot of them.
In the end, Emma was accepted into the inaugural class of aspiring physicians at the newly opened University of Minnesota Medical School’s CentraCare Regional Campus St. Cloud. The new campus’s mission is to train students interested in pursuing careers in rural health care – ensuring more doctors end up in areas where the need is only expected to rise in the coming years.
“When I saw this school was opening up, it seemed to check all my boxes,” she says. “There is such a great need for medical students who want to practice in rural areas, and I really like the fact that rural medicine has less specialization. It allows you the chance to practice a broader scope of medicine. That fits with the picture I’ve drawn for myself when it comes to where I want to end up.”
Beyond that, she was named the first-ever recipient of the CentraCare Foundation Scholarship for Rural Medicine. The scholarship covers full tuition for four years of medical school.
“I want to serve smaller communities not only as a provider, but also as a listener, advocate and innovator. While resource limitations in rural settings present real challenges, those same constraints create opportunities for creative, impactful solutions.”
Through it all, Samantha (who, we’re proud to mention, is a second-year osteopathic medical student at Des Moines University) is just happy she could be there for her sister. “It meant everything to me,” she says. “At an age when most little sisters don’t really need their big sister anymore, mine needed me the most. I’ve honestly never been more proud of anything or anyone in my life.”