Top photo: John Ayers demonstrates. Above: Gordon Benson observes.

John C. Ayers, Jr., T’50, MD’54,HS’54-’55, and Gordon Benson, MD’56, were among the group of Duke School of Medicine alumni who returned to campus Jan. 29-Feb. 2 to help teach physical exam skills to first-year medical students. This is the third year of the Medical Alumni Teaching Experience, sponsored by the Duke Medical Alumni Association.

Ayers, a family physician from New Bern, N.C., says the experience was enormously rewarding. “This is a way to express my gratitude for all that Duke did for me,” he says.

And gaining the perspectives of seasoned physicians is appreciated by the learners.

“They’ve done this for 40-something years,” says student Stephan Frangakis.
“And they’re very good teachers.”

Adds student Jared Isaacronmi, “It’s great that they are so dedicated to the institution that taught them to be doctors. It helps to build a sense of community.”

Benson is a gastroenterologist at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. He, Ayers, Lyndon K. Jordan, Jr., T’57, MD’61, and John M. Witherspoon, T’62, MD’66, helped students practice physical exam skills in small groups.

If you would like information about next year’s Medical Alumni Teaching Experience,
please contact Ellen Luken, executive director of medical alumni affairs and external relations at 919-667-2500 or at ellen.luken@duke.edu.