Gillian Heckler ’21 Shadowed Radiologist Daniel Dessner ’84 Over Winter Break

By Matt Mandel '19

On December 27 and 28, Gillian Heckler ’21 shadowed Daniel Dessner ’84, MD, a partner at Toledo Radiological Associates. Heckler, a neuroscience major, hospice volunteer and customer service specialist found the opportunity when she scheduled an appointment with the Career Development Office (CDO).

Heckler was directed toward the CDO’s job shadow program, when she was looking for opportunities to explore careers in medicine. After reviewing the CDO’s network of alumni contacts, she found Dessner. Heckler decided to apply for a job shadow through the Career Development Office because Dessner’s job interested her and he lives in Heckler’s home area.

After graduating from Kenyon, Dessner went to medical school at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Medicine, where he found his passion for radiology.

“I had a really good early experience with some pediatric radiologists at the University of Cincinnati," Dessner said. "I kind of stumbled into their company and it occurred to me pretty quickly that these guys were really smart and they were having a lot of fun doing what they were doing and I just wanted to be like them.” 

After earning his MD, Dessner pursued a career in radiology with a residency at St. Louis University Medical Center in their diagnostic radiology residency program for 5 years. After completing his residency, he then did a fellowship in pediatric radiology at the University of Michigan’s Medical School in Ann Arbor, Michigan for one year. Dessner has been a partner at Toledo Radiological Associates, Inc. for almost 26 years.

Dessner volunteered to be a part of the CDO’s alumni database a number of years ago, but until Heckler contacted him about a month and a half ago, no other students previously had reached out. Nonetheless, he was just as willing to help as he was when he first signed up. The two corresponded, and set up a job shadow for Heckler over her recent winter break.

Both Heckler and Dessner said the experience was positive. Heckler enjoyed learning from this opportunity and Dessner liked hosting a passionate and curious student.

“It was very refreshing to have a better understanding of how my studies could be applied,” Heckler said. “I also thought it was amazing how much I actually learned from shadowing him — he shared his wealth of knowledge from the healthcare system to biology. Dr. Dessner was very thorough and conscientious at explaining to me each step of his working process. He also was very welcoming and gracious to introduce me to his colleagues.”

“She is really bright, she seemed really interested, she came early, she stayed late,” Dessner said. “You couldn’t ask for more. She asked a lot of good questions. I think she got a nice experience about how doctors live, how doctors think, what doctors do, especially radiologists.”

Given Heckler’s interest in pursuing a career in pediatrics, the opportunity was an excellent fit because Dessner is a pediatric radiologist. She found the imaging of adolescents to be particularly compelling. Her time with Dessner allowed Heckler to explore and consider the field of radiology.

“I did find radiology very interesting as they are considered the ‘doctor’s doctor’ as they must advise other doctors on how to proceed based upon the visuals they interpret,”  Heckler shared. “I think radiology is a very powerful tool in medicine that allows doctors to treat patients most effectively.”

Dessner is looking forward to hosting the next student who is interested in a similar opportunity.

“I would encourage all Kenyon students, no matter what they’re interested in, to seek out alumni contacts and try to set something like this up. I don’t see how it could do anything but help them,” Dressner explained.

Kenyon students who are interested in taking part in a job shadow program for Spring Break should reach out to Associate Director for Career Development Lee Schott at schottlc@kenyon.edu to learn more.