“I Want to Help the Next ‘Me’ Out There …”

Photo: Darrell Hoemann

“I grew up in rural Michigan, in Menominee. My dad died after my first semester of medical school, and I had no money. I made it through on loans — I didn’t qualify for scholarships. I told myself at the time that when I could, I wanted to help the next ‘me’ out there, and make it a little bit easier.

“My loans are paid off now, and I’ve begun to fund a $5,000 named scholarship. I named it after my father, Kenneth James Sobeski, who was a foundry worker. I think he’d like that.”

James Sobeski, M.D., a 1993 graduate of the University of Michigan Medical School, is an orthopaedic surgeon in Champaign, Illinois, where he lives with his wife, Paddy, and their three children, Ellen, Sophia and Jimmy.

To learn more about how your gifts, current and future, can benefit medical students, residents and fellows at the University of Michigan, please call Jim Thomas at (800) 468-3482 or e-mail him at jimthom@umich.edu. To obtain a DVD or VHS copy of “Lifting the Burden … Realizing the Dream,” (winner of the 2004 Association of American Medical Colleges Group on Institutional Advancement Award of Excellence) a 12-minute film describing the difference your support will make, please e-mail Karin Roberts at karinr@umich.edu.