Southeast Texas Medical Associates, LLP James L. Holly, M.D. Southeast Texas Medical Associates, LLP


In The News - Alumnus gives back through mentoring and more
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A Call to Heal, a Call to Serve

Alumnus gives back through mentoring and more

January 2014

Implementing an externship was a longtime dream of James L. "Larry" Holly, M.D., Class of 1973. This past summer, his vision of educating students and serving on the faculty came to fruition when Summer Scavone, a fourth-year medical student, entered his practice, South East Texas Medical Associates (SETMA), to embark on a four-week patient-centered medical home externship. "My experience with Dr. Holly, in one word, was inspiring," said Scavone. "This rotation helped me see the difference between technician and healer - two things that any physician can be. The environment that Dr. Holly and his colleagues have built is one that I would like to work in and emulate in my future."

Dr. Holly’s path to becoming the exemplary physician he is today and the extraordinary journey which led him there began many years ago with his initial calling as a physician. While in graduate school, he and his wife, Carolyn, knew his vocation was one of service. Initially, he considered becoming a minister, but after careful discernment, "I saw a mission and ministry in being a physician," he said. "Both vocations help meet the desperate needs of people."

Upon attending the Health Science Center, he fell in love with biochemistry and physiology. "It was new and exciting," he said, comparing it to his undergraduate background in history and philosophy. "There was no part that I didn’t like." In addition to being active in several student organizations on campus, he served on the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) executive committee as its first student member, where he voted on the Health Science Center’s medical school accreditation. Among his mentors, he credits Marvin S. Forland, M.D., former associate dean for clinical affairs in the School of Medicine; Elliot Weser, M.D., emeritus professor of medicine; and F. Carter Pannill, M.D., former dean of the School of Medicine. Their guidance inspired him to become a mentor and later establish the externship at SETMA where he would in turn become a mentor to future physicians.

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