Micah Lefton accepted into medical school | Letter
Published 1:30 am Wednesday, April 8, 2020
by Zachary Lefton
Once In A Blue Moon Farm
My brother Micah Lefton, Orcas High School class of 2007, was just accepted to the WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. He is the first student from San Juan County to be admitted into this highly-rated program.
Ever since he was running around playing Davey Crockett with me in our makeshift Mississippi Riverboat in the backyard, my little brother wanted to be a doctor. When sports weren’t quite his thing in high school he was the unofficial team doctor, even traveling with the boy’s varsity teams. Wrapping ankles and wrists. Getting icepacks ready. Asking “how many fingers am I holding up?” He was a volunteer EMT by the end of high school.
Once he started college in Boston he began working part-time as an EMT before quickly advancing to a paramedic. Life threw some ups and downs at him, scattered with disappointments. He considered altering his dream, but he persevered. After no acceptances in his first round of Med School apps, he studied harder. Went back to Boston University to take some more classes. Retook the MCATS. He got another job in a medical research lab with Harvard, while still also working full time as a lead paramedic in the city of Boston. Micah liked to work nightshifts, preferably on the weekends when there were more calls. Years go by. Finally, it was time to reapply to med schools for a second time. He conducted his in-person interviews this last fall/winter and the waiting began again.
Micah received a phone call from the Dean of the Washington State University Medical School asking him if he’d accept admission into their med school. He replied, “With honor.” The Dean said this is one of the happiest parts of his job and wanted to know who Micah would call first to share the good news and Micah replied, “My Mom.”
Micah will be the first medical student from San Juan County to attend Washington State University’s Medical School in Spokane. Micah is currently in Boston working as a paramedic during this unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. He will keep his assignment until the last day possible before his WSU Medical program begins. Like all medical professionals on the front lines of this pandemic, they are putting the safety and health concerns of others before their own. How can we ever thank them enough?
