Westmont Magazine The Next Adventure

Alan Westeren ’88 is always ready for another challenge. A biology major and an economics and business minor at Westmont, he went to medical school at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., on a full scholarship from the U.S. Navy. He graduated with Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Society honors in 1993 and began his military service.

During his internship at San Diego Naval Hospital, he was selected for advanced training to become a U.S. Navy pilot and flight surgeon. He attended flight school at Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla., where he endured intensive survival training, daily physical fitness sessions, and testing on an obstacle course. In 1995 he was assigned to a flight squadron at the Marine Corps air station in El Toro, Calif., where he received additional instruction and training in helicopters and tactical jets. He traveled all over the United States and the world and acted as the medical doctor/pilot for the squadron.

When he finished his scholarship obligation to the Navy in 1997, Alan stayed in Southern California and worked in an emergency room, in Orange County medical centers affiliated with Hoag Hospital, and in a private family and sports medicine practice.

But he left the comfortable life of private medical practice to seek yet another adventure. In July 1999, he began training to become an eye surgeon and moved to Philadelphia, Penn., to enroll in a three-year ophthalmology/eye surgery residency at the University of Pennsylvania. When he finishes this program, he expects to pursue subspecialty fellowship training for one or two years before moving on to yet another challenge.