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When we filmed scholarship recipients Taylor Thompson (Arch ’21, McIntire ’22) and Dr. Jomar Aryee (Med ’20) on Grounds, they were absorbed in their studies and what was motivating them at UVA. Where are they today?
Taylor Thompson stayed another year after graduating from the School of Architecture to complete his master of science degree at the McIntire School of Commerce. During his studies, he worked as a Real Estate Development Intern at the UVA Foundation. Following the completion of the M.S. Commerce, Thompson started as a Project Analyst for Brailsford & Dunlavey, applying his research and analytical skill sets for the development advisory and program management firm’s higher education division. He’s now a senior analyst.
Thompson said, “As anyone who went to UVA knows, leaving Charlottesville is difficult, but I feel so much more prepared to create value for B&D right away because of the education I received from UVA.” Thompson also married his wife, Elizabeth, whom he met at UVA, in July 2022, and you now can find them in Austin, Texas.
Dr. Aryee—affectionately known to his family, friends, and many of his patients as “Dr. J”—is fully immersed in his orthopaedic surgery residency at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Rutgers University. Right now, his training is focused on honing what he calls his “orthopaedic instincts,” but he tells us that the foundational lessons he learned at the UVA School of Medicine have been crucial to his ability to provide excellent patient care.
“The diverse learning experiences I had in medical school poised me for success in my field,” Dr. Aryee reflected. “What I learned in the ‘unwritten curriculum’ about the doctor-patient relationship, the impact of social issues in medicine, and the multi-faceted roles of physicians in health care teams and society at large has proven invaluable to my transition from student to trainee to practitioner.”
Dr. Aryee expressed his passion for understanding and treating musculoskeletal disease not only through direct patient care, but also through teaching and research. While tackling the daunting responsibilities of surgical training, he’s found time to publish papers and book chapters, present his research at local and regional meetings, and even give lectures to audiences of students, faculty, and his peers at RWJ.
“I wanted to do orthopaedic surgery because it’s such a high impact specialty,” he said. “The burden of musculoskeletal disease can be enormous, which opens the door for orthopaedic surgeons to provide expertise that can markedly improve the quality of our patients’ lives.”
Outside of work, Dr. Aryee travels, enjoys watching college and professional track and field, and loves spending time with his wife, Grace, whom he met at the College of William and Mary and married there, nearly a decade later.
