Jackson RaC)ioLo9CY Associates, P.A.

P.O. Box 3614 Jackson, Tennessee 38303 Pres·Treas. C. V. Alexander, Ir., M.D. vice-Pres-sec. Allen Schlamp, M.D.

July 29, 1994

Dear Tree:

We all have many influences in our lives, both plus and minus, that in varying degrees shape our destiny. The single greatest positive influence on my life was my career selling books during seven summers and recruiting and managing teams of other college students for The Southwestern Company.

I earned what I felt was a lot of money. Some I put to good use, some I wasted, but all of it is long since gone. It was not the money, however, that allowed me to achieve in life (to this point) far more than most people ever allow themselves to dream about. It was, in fact, the discipline, the determination, the principles of honesty and the secrets of living a positive, successful life that I learned in order to make this money and while I was out there knocking on those doors that allowed me to make the most of my abilities and to truly achieve the American Dream.

As I was wrestling with the decision as to whether to become a field manager with Southwestern or to apply for further courses to meet requirements for applying to medical school, I went to Spencer's office and he gave me this advice. (It's been too many years to remember the exact words, but they were something like this.)

"You have more talent and determination in your little finger than most people have in their entire body. This and your determination to be the best you can be will insure your success in any field. It will be Southwestern's loss in one respect, but a great victory in another, but you need to become a doctor -- that's what you truly want to do -- if you don't take that challenge, regardless of how successful you are with Southwestern in the future -you will always regret not trying to fulfill your dream."

I followed that advice. All A's except one B (and I was proud of it in one Organic class) over the next two and one half semesters and a good entrance exam gave me a shot. Even so, I was one of the last (perhaps the last) students accepted for the entering freshman class at L.S.U. Medical School in 1976 (at the age of27). I was notified while on the bookfield and while driving to my first house that morning, tears of pride and excitement welled up in my eyes and I determined to make the most of this opportunity.

Last in didn't matter. I was in!! I ran for President of my class and was elected and won re-election all four years - never before accomplished at that Medical School.

I finished in the middle of my class and was accepted for a Surgery internship. I became totally infatuated with the radiologic diagnosis of surgical as well as medical disease processes, but the Radiology residency programs are so competitive that in most cases one need not even apply if they are not in the top five to ten percent of their class. However, this became my goal and I knew I could overcome the odds if I would sell myself - my skills - my abilities - my desire - to those within the Radiology Department. Each time I had a different diagnostic surgical case I would go by the office of the head of the Radiology Department and discuss the case with him. When it was time to select a candidate to fill a position the next year, I applied and was selected. This has allowed me to achieve the goals I had set professionally, personally and financially. Without the lessons, principles and experiences gained during my years with Southwestern, I do not believe that I would have accomplished what I have or would still be setting goals for the future.

Over the years I have enjoyed (and still do) sharing some of these ideals and principles with youth groups, professional organizations and college students. I do this in part to pay back what I have received and partially to re-energize myself with a dose of this medicine.

It's a wonderful life and Southwestern has played a great part.

Sincerely,

Charles L. McCall, Jr., M.D. (Charlie)

Novemb?r 14 773

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To:

Southwestern Company

From:

John Rysavy

Date:

June 21, 1998

Subject:

Southwestern Summer Experience

Knocking on doors in Chesapeake, Virginia during the summer of 1986 was something that I will never forget. I still think back to those "days" and smile and remember how much I learned about controlling my emotions and staying on schedule. I have been in the pharmaceutical industry for over 8 years now and I see daily how my days of selling and management have put me to the head of the class in what I do. (Obviously one can see that my positive attitude never did quite come down from then.)

I was approached by my student manager (Bill Kerkaert) during the fall of 1985 and was signed up to sell books out "east". I sold for 3 summers and brought teams out my last 2 years. I can honestly say that the insight I gained into human behavior has helped me as I knock on new and existing doors everyday. I have the benefit of not being

afraid to test my limits and step back and realize that this is only one day of my life. The Southwestern experience has helped me to put my job and even my day to day concerns into perspective.

I could write several pages, but suffice it to say that carrying that sample bag door to door has enabled me to take on new opportunities and have fast starts as I am not afraid to fail. Fred Prevost once told me that if I could work 80 hours a week during the summer, working 50-55 hours a week during my career would be a lot easier and help me be more focused. He was right. If your son or daughter is considering a summer selling books realize that they learn not only to sell great products, but more importantly themselves. I know that I had a leg up on the competition, and that I still do.

, ' .. 'Tha!*s f?r the ie~Ol~ ...

John Rysavy ~ ~ 11914 NolandRd V r Overland Park, KS 66213

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~tructive urthoRSqic Sur8ery ot [ne.D.C.

October 26, 1993

Craig Soeder Southwestern Company P.O. Box 305 140

Nashville, Tennessee 37230

Dear Craig:

I hope this letter finds you happy, healthy and terrific as I am and my family is as well.

To list all of the ways in which selling books had affected my life as far as a medical student, physician and orthopedic surgeon; would take 10-20 pages. I will try to list briefly three ways I feel selling books has helped me in my career as a physician.

Primarily I learned how to work on a schedule, be competitive and interview well and finally how to listen to people and find ways I could help them.

As you know Craig, I was an undergraduate at the University of Notre Dame and graduated with a chemical engineering degree from Notre Dame in 1981. While I had many offers to go into the engineering field, I wanted more. Selling books with Southwestern, gave me the foresight and the flexibility to look farther ahead and go to engineering graduate school for one year. After getting my master's degree in engineering, I decided to go to medical school which was a drastic change from being an engineer to being a physician. I had to totally relearn how to take tests, memorize large bodies of information and study as medicine is completely different from engineering. My work ethic at Southwestern greatly helped me in that respect. Every summer in the nine summers I sold books, I worked over 80 hours per week and had over 180 demos every week. Studying was simply staying to a routine and finding the next chapter or the next session to study instead of the next house to go to.

Even in medicine, competition is tough as trying to.gain an exclusive residency in orthopaedic surgery is extremely competitive. Sometimes only one in ten get an interview and one

\ r

Page 2 10/27/93

in 100 will be selected for certain residencies and fellowships. I persisted and found that the interview process was simple as I had interviewed hundreds of people during my eight seasons of recruiting with Southwestern. I was able to get the residency of my choice and the fellowship of my choice and I now have a practice in orthopaedics/sports medicine in Erie, PA.

I have only recently realized the final benefits of selling books after I started my own practice a few months ago. The advantage of selling books has had on me as a physician, is that I seem to listen more intently to my patients and am always trying to find ways to help them to identi£y their problem and to lock for solutions.

When patients tell me they work 9-5 in a factory and live in a small house - I know exactly what type of situation they live in. I know their house because I visited those same people for nine summers on the bookfield. I can anticipate problems they may have because I have been in homes just like theirs.

It's funny Craig, but doesn't that sound a lot like our talks in selling and recruiting? It really all ties in and I would like to stress to any of the potential recruits that I truly believe in the Southwestern program and would not trade the nine summers that I sold for anything.

S~erelY,

~~

Daniel J. McKernan, MD

DJM/dls

ECLER'S

Professional Pharmacy

.It_rII 1010 W. 29th Street. So. Sioux City, NE 68776. PH 402-494-5542 • FAX 402 494-2207

10-12-03

Dear Grant Greder,

I wanted to take the time to thank you and Southwestern for having such an impact on my life. I was recruited back in 1998 after being accepted to the University Of Nebraska Medical Center. I never realized how much a summer internship in sales could benefit someone taking on a career in the medical field. I was privileged to work with Southwestern for three summers and along with gaining invaluable experience I was also able to earn $85,000 and graduate with my doctorate of pharmacy debt free.

The leadership and responsibility of my internship really helped me develop skills that have lead me to where I am today. After graduating with my doctor of pharmacy degree at the age of23, I became a pharmacist at Redler's Professional Pharmacy where my business skills and selling ability really became an asset. I decided after two years to venture out and start my own pharmacy in Dakota Dunes, South Dakota which I wil1 be opening next May 2004. My experience with Southwestern in managing a team and running my own business has led me in this direction.

Pharmacy is becoming geared more toward patient counseling. It is important to be able to establish trust and conununicate effectively with people. In pharmacy, we encounter all types of people. We are not able to choose our patients. Our patients have all types of personalities, incomes, races, and backgrounds. It is important to connect with each of them in order to establish a relationship where they are able to trust you. Southwestern has taught me many of these qualities, and I believe it has made me a better pharmacist.

F or all the students who are trying to decide whether this is the best option for the summer, I will tell you that you will learn everything you need to know to graduate during the school year, but it is what you do during the summer that separates you from the rest of your class. I decided that ifI wanted to be a good pharmacist I should stay and work in a pharmacy for the summer and gain practical experience, but if I wanted to be a great pharmacist I needed to challenge myself and do something that separated me from the other pharmacy students. My Southwestern experience proved to be much more valuable than if! had spent my summers working in a pharmacy. I am now able to use this experience for the rest of my life as a pharmacist. Thank you Southwestern for this .' invaluable opportunity!

S~relY,

/~ /3u,N-, Vrn(fYl j)

Teresa Broers, PhannD

SCHOOL OF

MEDICINE IN SHREVEPORT Louisiana State University Medical Center

1501 Kings Highway

Post Office Box 33932

Shreveport, LA 71130· 3932 Telephone: (318) 674-6065

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Student Affairs

Mr. John Loughran

The Southwestern Company P.O. Box 820

Nashville, TN 37202

Dear John,

How is my favorite sales manager? I bet things are getting pretty busy in Nashville these days , Down here, the school year is moving on along, and all is well with me.

You know, John, I was just thinking the other day about that day in 1979 in the Student Center dt Tech when I decided to spend my summer selling books. That made Infi think of how my experiences with Southwestern have helped me, and I just wan t ed to share some of those thoughts with you.

First of all, I think se Ll.i nq books and recruiting a team helped me a lot in the interview pro cuus , After knocking on thousands of doors on the bookfield and participattng in over a hundred interviews back at Tech, I was much more confident and relaxed in my interviews at medical school. During the interviews I was a.ble to explain to the admissions committee how I went out to another st.at.e for three months, ran my own business,

and brought home enough profit to more than pay for college.

When you really think about; it, I was no different than any other applicant to medical school as far as grades, MCA'!' scores, and extracurricular activities. But r am convinced that the one thing that set me apart from other applicants and told the committee something about my character is my Southwestern experience.

Secondly, my expe rd encec with Southwestern have helped me tremendously in medical school. After having a good bit of free time in college, having class from 8 to 5 here at medical school was a lot different.

Having only a few hours to study a whole lot of material forced me to use my time wisely, set goals, and be disciplined--all qualities that I was able to work on while selling books and recruiting. One specific example in which the things I Learned with Southwestern have helped me was when I was studying for finals a few weeks ago. The final exams in each of our classes counted 70%, and all the tests were on the same day. John, the pressure was unreal, and I saw it affect several of my classmates. But

School of Allied Health Professions School of Graduate Studies

School of Medicine in Shreveport

School of Dantistrv

~)r hnoi of Medicine in N(,w Orleans School of Nursino

M-l

SCHOOL OF

MEDICINE IN SHREVEPORT Louisiana State University Medical Center

1501 Kings Highway

Post Office Box 33932

Shreveport, LA 71130-3932 Telephone: (318) 674-6065

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I remembered how my student manager taught me to just worry about one day at a time, one house at a time, and everything worked out just fine.

Finally, I believe my experiences on the bookfield will help me a great deal when I begin to practice medicine. You know, John, the days of doctor shortages are over, and people have discovered that if they don't like one doctor, they can go next door to another. In order to have a good practice, physicians must be people-oriented and sell themselves. One of the

classes we just finished included how to interview patients. There is

no doubt in my mind that my experiences knocking on doors and meeting thousands of strangers have put me head and shoulders above a lot of my classmates as far as understanding the patient and knowing how to deal

with people. When you really think about it, a doctor must (1) establish rapport, (2)find the need, (3)prescribe a treatment for that need, and (4)get the patient to co~nit himself on following through with the treatment. These steps are almost exactly like the ones we learned in

sales school.

John, I believe there is nothing else I could have done in my summers that would have helped me more than Southwestern. Thanks for

all you have done. If I can ever give some counsel to someone considering selling books, please let me know. Tell everyone at the company he110.

S'ncerely you~r, 1

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School of Allied Health Professions School of Graduate Studies School of Medicine in Shreveport

School of Dentistry School of Medicine in New Orleans School of Nursing

II scorr &WHITE

October 14, 1993

Tree George

Southwestern Alumni Office 2451 Atrium Way

Nashville, TN 37214

Dear Mr. George:

I am happy to respond to your request regarding the affect of selling books on my subsequent career in medical school and as a physician. First of all the discipline involved in managing my time was extremely helpful in medical school. My only summer selling was the one after I graduated from college, just before beginning medical school. The long hours and the habits developed were of great value in accomplishing what was required to get a medical degree.

•

Secondly, my subsequent practice has been greatly facilitated by the experience of "meeting and dealing with people". I heard that phrase used many times during sales school but only began to appreciate what it meant sometime later. In my current practice, I may speak with people from very different walks of life and with very different problems. Each person, however, has to be dealt with as an individual and the experience I gained with Southwestern was extremely valuable in beginning my education on that subject. I continue to look back on that summer as a very enriching experience, and the lessons learned there continue to be practical and useful on a daily basis. I appreciate your keeping me updated on the activities the Southwestern Company. If I can be of further help to you, please let me know.

Sincerely I I

C ,-~' () -R~.-L-L~'--

Charles N. Verheyden~ M.D., Ph.D.

CNV/dag

Office Phone: 817-724-4251

sco'rr A: WHITE CLINIC An Association Affiliated With Scott and White Memorial Hospital and

Scott, Sherwood and Brindley Foundation

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER COLLEGE OF MEDICINE, 'fEMPLE CAMPUS

2401 South 31st St.

Temple, Texas 76508

817 n24-2111

39

.~ Vanderbilt f-Iealth Services

Franklin

Administrator Linda Tones-Webb

Family Medklne Blizabeth B. Burgos. M.D. Scott R. Parker, M.D. Ruth C. Stewart. M.D.

Family Nurse Pradilioner Lori Crews, C.F.N.P.

Gayle Pins, C.F.N.P.

Kalhy Reese,C.F.N.P. Claire Srooji, C.F.N.P. Suzanne Cole, C.F.N.P.

General Surgery

AJ. Betburum, M.D~ F.A.C.S. Bernard L. Burgess. Jr., M.D. Henry P. Russell, M.D., P.A.C.s.

Internal Medidne

Mallhew J. 'Abbate, M.D_ Richard G. Lane, M:D.

Debra J. McCroskey. M.D. Bobby J. White, M.D. Gwendolyn A. Howard, M.D.

Internal MedkilWPediatl'ks James E. Powell, M.D.

John D. SCOII. M.D.

Pbysican Assistant Laura Guyer, P.A.-C.

Pulmonary

Jack W. Coggeshall, M.D. Laura Weiker!, M.D.

VlIDderbilt Medkal Group

Dennatulogy

Michael L Smith. M.D.

Ga5troenterology

Lloyd G. King, M.D., F.A.C.G.

GyneroIogylUrogy_oJogy Barry K. Jarnagin, M.D.

Neurology

Kenneth J. Gaines, MD.

Vanderbilt Page-Campbell CardioWgy G. Christian Friesinger, M.D.

2lO5 Edward Curd Lane Franklin, Tennessee 37067 Phone: (615) 794-8700 F3!I: (615) 791·7286

January 4, 2003

Roy Loftin

2451 Atrium Way Nashville, TN 37214

DeacRoy,

Just a quick note to highlight how my Southwestern experience has contributed to my medical career.

First, selling books gave me confidence. After running my own business a thousand miles away from home, interacting with more than 2000 families, and working hard over 80 hours a week, medical school was a comparative breeze.

My Southwestern experience also separated me from thousands of other applicants. Most med school hopefuls do pretty much the same thing during their summer breaks, their GPAs are generally good. and, if they want to get into a good program, they score high on their MCAT exams. The problem? Every resume looks the same---good MCATs, good GPA, and the ever-pres!;nt "worked in a hospital" for summer work experience. There's nothing wrong with getting summer experience in the medical field, but as competitive as it is getting in, you need to try to look different ... not like everyone else, My resume indeed looked vastly different from my fellow applicants.

I now run the most profitable walk-in clinic in Vanderbilt's array of health services. I am selling all the time: selling new patients on me and our practice, selling a smoker on why he should quit, selling insurance companies on paying claims, selling the executive managers at Vandy on how we can improve, and selling patients on why they should take their medications ... to name a few. And, when you run an office with nurses, P.A.s, and a full administrative staff, you have to know how to deal with people.

My six summers with Southwestern was a great way to prepare for a medical career. (Financially, it was nice to finish med school virtually debt-free.) I use the skills I learned from selling, recruiting, and managing teams everyday.

Sincerely,

Deb McCroskey, M.D. Vanderbilt Health Services

9) 9 Murfreesboro Road Franklin, Tennessee 37064 Phone: (615) 791-7373 Fax:(615)59~26

RICHARD W. WATERS, D.M.D.

Post Office Box 1267 • 1171/2 Athens Street • Hartwell, Georgia 30643

Telephone: (706) 376-2345

October 4, 1993

Tree George

Southwestern Alumni Office 2451 Atrium Way

Nashville, Tennessee 37214

Dear Tree,

Retrospect is one of the most valuable tools I have found to help me continue on a successful path in life, professionally and socially. During the summers of 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, and 1982 I sold books in the Eagle Organization under Tom Boyd. Eager to share my tremendous experience with fellow Valdosta (Georgia) State College schoolnlates, during the school year I recruited teammates for my last four summers. I even had my future-

wife (now 12 years together!) on my sales team one summer. It's hard to say which phase of my Southwestern experience helped me more. There's no questioning it, though: both have made my life the success that it is today,

I

In 1986 I graduated from the Medical College of Georgia's School of Dentistry. I was the recipient of the Community Dentistry Award. I think that it was a reflection of the service-minded attitude I developed during my bookselling days and continue to nurture. I have found in dentistry that what I have put into the lives of others, meaning my patients and staff, comes back into my own. I am a "rich dentist" in a most unusual sense.

A strong sense of self-confidence is needed in tackling new and difficult issues. Dentistry is under attack from various factions with regards to fluoride in drinking water, mercury in fillings, and AIDS. Such strong objections demand equally strong answers. My bookselling days, full of fun, creative and spontaneous answers were building blocks for the success I have seen in dentistry in this era of professional unrest.

Finally, I have become the ultimate believer in books. I have sold them, I have written them (What We Do To Protect You, Dentelligence 1992), and now I am a publisher, co-owning Dentelligence with my wife Marie. Books have become our lives. We even have long-range goals of developing a franchise of small-town bookstores called The Booklet.

The wholeness of my creativity, excitement, motivation, and organization in and of life is owed to my Southwestern bookselling experiences. The spring of 1978 when Tom Boyd approached me was fateful, ln the most positive sense. I remember I offered him no obie c t i ons - jus t; questions. I am glad he had the right answers. I anI glad HE sold books!

Si~

37