Shanan Immel with a Fellow Medical Student
Shanan Immel with a Fellow Medical Student

Medical Student Who Wants to Specialize in Infectious Diseases Steps in to Assist with Coronavirus Response

Marian Frank
Marian Frank
Shanan Immel with a Fellow Medical Student
Shanan Immel with a Fellow Medical Student
Shanan Immel is Already Answering Statewide COVID-19 Hotline

Instead of taking a two-month break between medical school and residency training, Shanan Immel requested early graduation and has already begun helping the state’s response to the coronavirus epidemic.

Shanan Immel
Shanan Immel
Immel has met all the requirements to graduate from the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, foregoing the traditional commencement exercises so he can help staff a COVID-19 hotline that answers questions from health care providers and the public.

“I wanted to focus my remaining time in Arizona on helping the local health system deal with the pandemic, help take calls on the COVID-19 hotline and be involved with some other student initiatives that are in the works,” he said. “It is critical we use our time and knowledge to offset some of the burden on the health care system and get involved in fighting this pandemic.”

Immel will begin his internal medicine residency training in June at Tulane University in New Orleans. He already has begun to answer calls from the hotline, which receives 5,000 inquiries a day.

He was called to join the front lines because “every person chipping in is what will eventually turn this pandemic around, as well as more people following public health guidance to stop transmission. I'm honored to graduate early and play some small part in all this, and I wish I could do more.”

“I think this is just like the 1918 influenza pandemic or any war, and we need to divert as many resources as possible to this ‘war effort’ to bolster our health care system, keep people out of the hospital, protect our health care workers and stop the chain of transmission.”

Immel with His Family
Immel with His Family
Immel hopes to pursue a specialty as a parasitologist — one who studies parasites, their hosts and the relationships between them. His passion to pursue a career in infectious disease is a big reason he wanted to dedicate his time to stopping the virus.

“Because we are given the opportunity to choose to graduate early, I felt an obligation to help in whatever way I could before we are on the front lines as residents,” he said.

Immel’s family supported his decision as long as he could add something useful to the cause and stay safe. He grew up in Chandler, graduating from McClintock High School. For undergraduate, he attended the University of Arizona, where he studied microbiology.

About the College

Founded in 2007, the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix inspires and trains exemplary physicians, scientists and leaders to advance its core missions in education, research, clinical care and service to communities across Arizona. The college’s strength lies in our collaborations and partnerships with clinical affiliates, community organizations and industry sponsors. With our primary affiliate, Banner Health, we are recognized as the premier academic medical center in Phoenix. As an anchor institution of the Phoenix Bioscience Core, the college is home to signature research programs in neurosciences, cardiopulmonary diseases, immunology, informatics and metabolism. These focus areas uniquely position us to drive biomedical research and bolster economic development in the region.

As an urban institution with strong roots in rural and tribal health, the college has graduated more than 1,000 physicians and matriculates 130 students each year. Greater than 60% of matriculating students are from Arizona and many continue training at our GME sponsored residency programs, ultimately pursuing local academic and community-based opportunities. While our traditional four-year program continues to thrive, we will launch our recently approved accelerated three-year medical student curriculum with exclusive focus on primary care. This program is designed to further enhance workforce retention needs across Arizona.

The college has embarked on our strategic plan for 2025 to 2030. Learn more.