Commitment to Family Brings Yale Graduate Home to Study at MCW-Green Bay

Born in Clintonville, Wisconsin, Faith Lundt’s nontraditional upbringing had a profound impact on her life. Lundt and her younger siblings were adopted by her grandparents, who also fostered children throughout the years.

“I’ve grown up seeing true humanity and people just giving of themselves a lot,” says Lundt. “My grandparents had raised kids on their own and then decided to take us in, too. As I started to get older, I really realized the weight of that decision.”

Her grandparents’ responsibilities included caring for Lundt’s sister Isabella, who was born with a congenital heart condition that had her in and out of the hospital. That experience exposed Lundt to medicine at a young age. She says it also taught her what it was like to experience a medical journey with a family member.

“I think that definitely informed my decision to pursue medical school,” says Lundt. “I just really wanted to do something that helps people.”

Isabella’s condition, a left ventricular non compaction, worsened during Lundt’s senior year at Yale University. At the time, Lundt was busy writing her thesis, had taken the MCAT and had applied to several medical schools outside of Wisconsin.

“Her health just really declined,” she says. “She [Isabella] had a PICC line placed and was receiving 24-hour IV heart failure medication.”

Lundt rescinded her applications, thinking back to her grandparents’ sacrifices and what was most important to her. The answer was family which inspired her decision to apply to MCW.

“Being close to family was really my deciding factor in coming home,” Lundt says. “I live in Appleton, so being able to be in Green Bay or just the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) in general was what I wanted and what I needed,” says Lundt, who has joined MCW-Green Bay’s latest cohort.

Journey Into Medicine

Although she knew early on that she wanted to help people, Lundt wasn’t sure it would be in medicine. In fact, in seventh grade, she wanted to be a lawyer. By high school, medicine became a more natural answer for her. It was a combination of her passions, science and learning, she says.

“I love learning about the body, I love learning in general, and then getting to pair that with something that makes real, human impact is what made me choose medicine,” Lundt says. “I think healthcare was kind of the perfect blend of everything that I wanted.”

As Lundt reapplied for medical school, she visited Isabella often in the hospital. Her sister’s hospital stay extended from February to October, when she received a transplant. During her visits, Lundt got an even closer look at medicine, and a taste of being back home with her family.

As Lundt wrote her personal statement for medical school, she reflected on how her early experience with her grandparents made her want to be a doctor.

“A great word to describe a physician is selfless,” Lundt says. “The best example of that for me my grandparents adopting me.”

The first person to graduate from college in her family, Lundt had been accepted to other medical schools, including some in the state, but chose MCW-Green Bay.

She says aside from being close to her family, MCW-Green Bay appealed to her because of its unique three-year program and smaller learning environment.

“[At Yale] I was in lectures with 400-500 people so I’m excited about being in classes with 25 people,” she says.

Lundt had the opportunity to meet her classmates recently and says they’re an extremely talented group.

“We all come with such unique perspectives and different toolsets,” she says. “We’re going to get so much further being able to collaborate with each other.”

Family Means Everything

As she goes onto the next leg of her journey, Lundt is thankful for the support she’s received from her family.

“My family is so awesome and supportive of what I do,” she says. “I walk into the house and almost every day they ask me, ‘So what did the doctor learn today?’”

Lundt’s sister Isabella is doing great now, and she just started high school. Lundt’s other two sisters have followed in her footsteps and are attending college.

“I like to think that me going to college has given them the inspiration and strength to be able to do it for themselves,” she says.

Lundt plans to pursue pediatrics following medical school and says there are many opportunities to specialize in the field and have an impact on someone’s life.

“I think pediatricians or just physicians in general are one of the first and few people who can really make a lasting difference in a child’s life,” she says.