Featured Testimonial About Creighton University
On every medical mission trip, Creighton graduate Lori Schweickert carries a special backpack. This weathered bag holds more than just the practical tools needed for working in the complex landscapes of developing nations.
Written on the opening flap are rules of Jesuit discernment that Dr. Schweickert, BA'85, MD'91, carefully wrote in permanent marker more than two decades ago: Do something no one else is doing. Do something you can teach others to do. And above all, turn desolation into consolation.
"I'm grateful for the medical education and spiritual education I received from Creighton," says Schweickert, a pediatric and adult psychiatrist. "I still take to heart what a professor once said: 'This knowledge, this education, is not yours. It's a gift because not everybody gets this chance. So be a person for others, be a doctor for others.'"
Whether she’s leading or participating in a medical mission or with a patient in her North Carolina office at 3-C Family Services, the Jesuit rules of discernment continue to guide Schweickert.
In 2020, she established the Lori A. Schweickert, MD, Medical Humanities Lecture Series at Creighton University. She also named the University as a beneficiary of her estate. Schweickert says Creighton’s team was patient and interested in finding the intersection between her values and Creighton's needs.
“My experience creating the series was very satisfying. The University has incredible challenges. They must meet the needs of the current world and the educational settings. They must meet students where they are and form them in faith. If I can help be part of that, then I’m there for it. And when I’m not here, my gift will be.”
Faculty in the Creighton School of Medicine’s Department of Medical Humanities come from all corners of the University to help form compassionate and skilled physicians, educated in the liberal arts and driven by Jesuit values.
The Schweickert Lecture Series encourages students to contemplate real-life ethical scenarios in their future careers. The inaugural 2023 lecture featured professor of medical humanities and internationally renowned Catholic moral theologian Charlie Camosy, PhD. The next lecture is scheduled for this spring.
"In medicine, we're challenged a lot, and through it all, we must consider the dignity of each patient, of each person," says Schweickert. "I hope these lectures inspire current students and that they leave feeling both informed and formed into doctors who treat and heal their patients from the deepest parts of their hearts."
In addition to her role as medical director of 3-C Family Services, Schweickert is an adjunct professor at Duke University School of Medicine, and she mentors interns.
She has assisted in medical disaster relief in Haiti and Thailand, completed medical work in Honduras and Jamaica, and for her 25th class reunion at Creighton, she traveled to the Dominican Republic with ILAC in 2016. The Catholic Diocese of Raleigh recognized Schweickert for her humanitarian and medical work, and she served on the Orange County Board of Human Rights and Relations.
“I love what I do. I’ve learned that there's grace in this, a prevenient grace and that God has been calling. Once you hear it and respond to it, you feel empowered and saying yes to this calling is so easy.”
FUN FACT ABOUT LORI SCHWEICKERT, BA'85, MD'91
During undergrad, Schweickert helped fundraise for the Bluejay mascot costumes. She later became Betty Bluejay (pictured here) in her third year of medical school and had a stint as Billy.
“This was a cool and unique experience because it allowed me to have a different kind of contact with children. It helped me recognize and appreciate different temperaments as they responded to this huge bird suit. The experience became a conversation topic in my residency interviews.”
