When Bo Lovett first stepped into Dr. Bowen’s bustling office at Tryon Medical Partners, he was contemplating a career in the healthcare space. Little did he know that the time he spent at Tryon Medical Partners would change the course of his entire future. Now, two years later, as he prepares to enter medical school, Bo reflects on the experience that transformed him from a curious college student into a passionate aspiring physician.
Working with Dr. Bowen was Bo’s first step toward a career in healthcare.
Although Bo didn’t have very much experience in the healthcare field until working at Tryon Medical Partners, his curiosity about a future in medicine started in his teens.
“There were some events in high school that first got the wheels turning,” Bo shares. “A couple of my close friends had health emergencies and it was eye-opening to me: I could be the person who helps someone through this kind of crisis in the future.”
After graduating college in the spring of 2022 as a premed student, Bo was trying to figure out what to do next that could prepare him for medical school. He was nearly certain that he wanted to pursue medicine, but wanted the opportunity to put that theory to the test.
“After some family friends told me about Tryon, I reached out to see if they might have an open position,” Bo says. “Dr. Bowen graciously offered to help me out, and I got the opportunity to work at Tryon Medical Partners with him.”
In his time at Tryon, Bo was a full-time member of the team.
Bo’s role at Tryon looked very similar to a medical assistant or a nurse. He spent his days accompanying patients to their appointments, checking their vitals, and generally assisting with the check-in process. He was a critical support in assisting patients with short term disability (STD) leave paperwork and responding to patient messages and phone calls.
It didn’t take long for Bo’s inkling to be confirmed. As soon as he started interacting with patients at Tryon and making a true difference in their lives, he fell in love with the healthcare field.
“I knew I wanted to practice medicine within a week of working with Dr. Bowen – one moment in particular comes to mind,” Bo says. “We had a patient who recently lost his wife to COVID-19 and felt like his world had stopped. The patient shared that, after losing his wife, one of the few people he really looks forward to seeing is Dr. Bowen. If that is the kind of impact I could have on people as a doctor, I knew this is what I wanted to do with my life.”
Bo looks forward to applying his experience at Tryon to his future career.
Bo is grateful for what he learned in his two years at Tryon Medical Partners and can’t wait to bring those lessons to his own career in medicine.
“I learned so much about how to interact with patients and how to work on a team,” Bo says. “The biggest lesson I took away from Tryon is the value in establishing relationships with patients, making sure that you are more than a doctor – it’s about knowing your patients and their families well enough to be a trusted advisor when they need you most.”
Bo emphasizes that there is no better healthcare mentor than Dr. Bowen, who always took time to teach him valuable lessons and set him up well for his future career.
“Dr. Bowen is just phenomenal, he is not only smart, but incredible at building relationships,” Bo shares. “It’s been very impactful and rewarding to learn from him, and I look forward to taking what he has taught me to medical school in the fall.”
Bo is saying goodbye to Charlotte and Tryon Medical Partners now and heading off to Wichita, Kansas, to start school in the fall. However, Tryon staff has a feeling that this is more of a “see you later,” in the hopes that Bo will return to Tryon after medical school.
“I don’t know what kind of medicine I want to practice yet, so I’m leaving that door open,” Bo says. “However, after watching Dr. Bowen practice internal medicine for two years, I can’t imagine not specializing in primary care. He is just that inspiring.”