Pathways: Q&A with 2025 Alumni Award Winners
Introduction
Pathways asked the two UICOMP Alumni Award winners how their education and training in Peoria influenced their careers.
What values or habits from your time at UICOMP have stayed with you in your early career?
DR. JOEL DIAMANT: 1) Always respect and appreciate your peers 2) Always know that there is much more to know 3) Know starting early and staying late is a wonderful thing when you love Medicine 4) Loving my colleagues as if they were family or close friends has been instrumental in helping me promote a culture of unity and camaraderie at Scripps Clinic — this I learned at UICOMP from my classmates and the IM residents.
DR. BRANDON BLEESS: Medicine is a team sport. You will work with those of all different backgrounds, strengths, experiences and interests. These are the foundations of how medicine works and something you learn from your first day of medical school with your cadaver groups and all the way through residency where you build relationships and rely on your peers to work together to serve a patient in their greatest time of need.
Was there a particular faculty member, mentor or experience at UICOMP that significantly impacted your professional journey? How do you carry that influence forward in your own work or teaching?
DIAMANT: That would definitely be Eric H. Loewy, MD, (dec.) UICOMP associate professor of medicine and UIC associate professor of humanities (Ethics) who led student IM AM report and ethics discussions. He was instrumental in creating a sense of community amongst students having regular wine and snacks at his home. He taught us to be incisive and deliberative in our thinking, fleshing our thought processes in a supportive but prodding fashion. The technique of supportive, encouraging Socratic inquiry was fundamental to my success as a residency director for 20 years, aiding me in making learning and deep thought fun for all the trainees.
BLEESS: Luckily, I am now fortunate enough to work with three of the biggest influences on my training as colleagues now in Marc Squillante, DO, R '84; John Hafner, MD, R '99, MPH '06; and Greg Tudor, MD, R '95. Being able to take pieces from them, as well as so many others, to shape my practice into what I want it to be. This idea is something that I ensure that medical students and residents carry with them through their training as well.
What advice would you give to current medical students at UICOMP about building a meaningful, patient centered career?
DIAMANT: There is no career greater than Medicine with its continuous intellectual challenge, its ever changing and growing knowledge base, its ability to meaningfully change the lives of so many people. No career offers the financial, intellectual, emotional rewards of Medicine—think on this and relish this. Additionally, your focus, what you dwell upon is critical. We are prone to ruminate about the cumbersome EHR, the ungrateful patient, the teacher or colleague who dismissed us or implied we were fools, the missed diagnosis, the failed treatment, the pile of computer work awaiting us. We don't dwell upon and relish enough that grateful patient, the wise diagnosis we made, the successful treatment we initiated, the family grateful for our compassion and attention, the easy cure and the hard. The wins in this career are far, far greater than the irritants and disappointments — it's just a matter of what you choose to think about most.
BLEESS: Remember that this is a profound privilege to be called a physician. It is a title that is earned and comes with a deep respect, but with that comes a large responsibility. To be able to serve others in their suffering is an honor bestowed upon few. While caring for these individuals, do not lose sight of the dignity and worth of every patient. Approach every patient with humility and respect. There will always be obstacles to providing optimal care and metrics to be met, however do not lose sight of why you became a physician. Those patients and families will long remember you for the compassion and kindness you demonstrated. You may be the best and the brightest, but you will not gain your patient's trust without humility.
This article is part of the Spring 2026 issue of Pathways magazine.