By Patrick Wascovich

Some future physicians develop empathy by watching their elders provide care for people. Dr. Sally Dierschke, on the other hand, may have been first moved toward health care by the attention her father selflessly provided to the livestock on his West Texas farm.

The lesson was learned while living in Wall, a community near San Angelo. Dr. Dierschke’s clinical path was set at UT Southwestern Medical School once she experienced the wide range of care required in family medicine.

“I was initially drawn to family medicine because of my faith, which has taught me to value the dignity of every human being, including the unborn, the elderly, those with special needs, etc.,” she said. “In family medicine, I get to care for all those people.

“I love that I not only have the opportunity to care for the whole person, but also the whole family. I love that I will get to become a bit of an odd extension of so many families. Beyond the completeness of care that I feel like family medicine has to offer, I was also drawn to the breadth of knowledge one must have to be a good family physician. While on my rotation, I saw three patients in a row – an elderly man with hypertension, a young woman in for a prenatal checkup, and a newborn baby. I found the variety challenging, yet intriguing. I also saw the potential to be someone's physician for more than just one stage of their life, which really resonated with me.”

Her focus helped Dr. Dierschke receive the 2015 Minnie Lee Lancaster, M.D. Scholarship Award in Family Medicine. The Lancaster award honors Dr. Lancaster and her husband, Dr. Edgar Lancaster, who in 1953 opened the Grapevine Clinic and Hospital, the first clinic in Grapevine and the forerunner of Baylor Regional Medical Center at Grapevine.

“Sally is just the right fit for family medicine,” said Dr. Dan Sepdham, Associate Professor of Family and Community Medicine. “She was raised on a farm with strong hometown family values.  One of her family medicine faculty had this to say about her, ‘Sally was very personable and has that rare ability to put patients and team members at ease, while still demonstrating a strong fund of knowledge and decision making skills. I would consider her for my personal physician.’ Wherever Sally ends up settling down, I have no doubt she will make a significant difference in the community and the lives of her patients.”

Dr. Dierschke – who will move to St. Louis’ Mercy Hospital for her residency – attended Texas Tech University, graduating magna cum laude with a degree in food science, with minors in biology and chemistry. “Food science is not nutrition or cooking,” she said. “It's the research, development, and processing aspect of the food industry.”

Undoubtedly, her future career in medicine will include selflessly providing care for her patients.

“During my first and second year at UT Southwestern, I had the opportunity to participate in medical mission trips to El Paso. The kind of care we were able to provide to the people there was basically bread-and-butter family medicine,” Dr. Dierschke said. “While it was hard to see people who were suffering from chronic diseases and unable to get regular care or follow-up for their management, it also inspired me to want to change that. Working in the clinics associated with the homeless shelters here in Dallas also contributed to my desire to serve those who society marginalizes or forgets about.”

Dr. Sepdham holds the Drs. Malone V. Hill and John W. Pate Professorship in Family Medicine.