Health Care Staff: Bryan Lewis

2019 Health Care Heroes Award Winners

Bryan Lewis

Assistant to the Dean for Health Related Professions and director for the Pre-Health Program and Center for Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Parkside

Above all, Bryan Lewis views it as his job to help students believe they can reach their professional aspirations.

Lewis, assistant to the dean for Health Related Professions and director for the Pre-Health Program and Center for Health Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, works with students throughout their college journeys, from choosing courses to arranging job shadowing opportunities to preparing for professional placement tests and interviews.

“My hope is to help them with every possible aspect of their professional development for whatever it is they are looking to do for the rest of their life,” Lewis said.

When working with students, many of whom are the first in their families to attend college, Lewis is committed to helping them navigate what can be a complicated and intimidating process of pursuing health-related professional school.

“As a former pre-med student in a former lifetime, I’ve been down the road, I know the pressure they feel,” he said.  “I don’t want them to feel like they have to do it by themselves … I try to help them realize that what they thought is a far-off reality is in fact something they can do.”

UW-Parkside boasts a 90% success rate among its pre-health and pre-med students who apply to professional schools, more than twice the national average of about 40%.

Lewis attributes that success to UW-Parkside’s faculty and staff.

“We have a top-notch faculty here, great staff and tremendous support for students,” he said.