From surf’s up to scrub in: family shares history of patient care and riding waves
Celebrate Father’s Day with UF medical student Jaimie Bryan and her father, alumnus Shep Bryan, M.D. ’88
Surfers Jaimie Bryan, right, a UF College of Medicine student, and her alumnus father, Shep Bryan, M.D., left, pictured at a beach.
June 8, 2022 — As a young girl, Jaimie Bryan learned to surf by her father’s side, first riding boards at his feet and later skimming the world’s waters with a shared love for adventure and a good wave.
Now, the fourth-year medical student has another passion in common with her father, alumnus and vitreoretinal surgeon Shep Bryan, M.D. ’88: the desire to impact people’s lives through medical treatment, research and education.
“I always admired what my dad does,” she said. “He dedicated his career to the service of others. I thought it was amazing. He literally made blind people see.”
UF College of Medicine student Jaimie Bryan, left, and her alumnus father, Shep Bryan, M.D., right, pictured in surgical gowns.
Though Jaimie Bryan initially thought of pursuing a degree in biophysics when she attended the University of California, San Diego for her undergraduate studies, she soon switched majors, began volunteering at hospitals and felt pulled toward working directly with patients.
“The idea of getting to use your knowledge to help patients, that’s what really drew me in,” she said.
Shep Bryan, however, had her pegged as becoming a doctor much sooner. He said his daughter was always fascinated by medicine and surgery programs on television as a kid, unlike her brothers, who wanted to skip past those channels.
“Jaimie was always interested in the human body,” he said. “I think she’s always been fascinated by medicine. I saw her becoming a doctor very early on.”
UF College of Medicine student Jaimie Bryan, right, in her white coat, smiles and poses for a photo with her alumnus father, Shep Bryan, M.D., left.
When it came time to choose where to earn her M.D., Jaimie Bryan said, the decision to follow in her father’s footsteps was an easy one.
“I’ve always been a Gator at heart,” she said. “I interviewed here and just fell in love with the school.”
Her mother, Leisa Bryan, is also a Gator alumna from the UF College of Dentistry. Jaimie Bryan’s great-uncle, Joseph W. Shands Jr., M.D., was former division head of the UF division of infectious diseases, according to Shep Bryan. And his great-uncle, former Florida Sen. William Augustine Shands, is the namesake of UF Health Shands Hospital, where both Bryans have spent hours learning and serving in clinical rotations.
Shep Bryan, who grew up in Jacksonville, said the strong family ties to UF Health were a big part of the reason he came to the UF College of Medicine in the ’80s. Another motivator was getting away from the cold of his undergraduate years at Tufts University in Massachusetts and back to the sunshine and beaches of his home state.
Jaimie Bryan said she’s interested in pursuing a career in plastic surgery after graduating with the class of 2023. Though she has set her sights on a different specialty than her dad, the two still talk regularly about things like eye disease processes and the latest advice on general internal medicine. The father-daughter duo also teamed up on a research project and case series reviewing the diagnosis and early treatment of patients with incontinentia pigmenti, a rare genetic disorder with dermatologic and retinal manifestations. Their findings were published last year in the Journal of VitreoRetinal Diseases.
“I’m super proud of my daughter,” Shep Bryan said. “She is going to be an outstanding physician. She already is, really. I love the fact that she enjoys what she’s doing and has this insatiable appetite for learning. Her patients are going to love her.”
