COM Outlook Spring 2020

42 | DR. KIRAN C. PATEL COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE ALUMNI Spotlight ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT BY SCOTT COLTON, B.A., APR Physician. Pilot. Real estate agent. Hearing aid specialist. Business consultant. TV extra. Philanthropist. Celebrity friend. These are just some of the words that describe the unconventional career of Trevi Sawalich, D.O., M.P.H., a 2003 Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine (KPCOM) alumna. As a child growing up in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, Sawalich dreamed of becoming an actress and practicing medicine with her older sister, Tina Horth. Even as a senior in high school, Sawalich remained undecided about her vocational plans. “My father was an Air Force colonel who taught us discipline, how to be goal oriented, and to achieve results—but to always be smart in life and have fun,” said Sawalich, who also has two older brothers. Consequently, when the two began discussing what she might want to study in college, Sawalich’s father pressed her for details. “My father told me I couldn’t be undecided about what to study in college, so I told him I wanted to be a doctor, a pilot, or an actress,” she recalled. “He said a hard no on becoming an actress, but said he would pay for me to get my pilot’s license if I could do so in the minimum hours required.” Sawalich earned her pilot’s license before graduating high school, but said she realized she loved it as a hobby, not a profes- sion. Because she still harbored a dream to practice medicine OUTSIDE THE BOX BOLD CHOICES DEFINE ECLECTIC CAREER