(Photos provided courtesy of St. Luke’s University Health Network)

When he’s not “rounding” on hospitalized patients at St. Luke’s Bethlehem campus next week, as he trains to become a physician, Temple/St. Luke’s medical student, David Jessen, will be near a TV intensely watching the gymnastics competition in the Olympics in Paris, which start on July 26.

He’ll be remembering his own performances in the Olympics Games’ gymnastics events back in 2016 and 2020, as he cheers on his friends with whom he trained in college at Stanford University before he chose a career in medicine over gymnastics.

Temple/St. Luke’s is the Lehigh Valley’s first and only four-year medical school. By cultivating the region’s brightest home-grown medical talent, such as Jessen, St. Luke’s is helping the region to secure its health and well-being amid a worsening doctor shortage nationally.

“I hope the USA gymnasts make it to the winners podium this year,” says the 27-year-old Bethlehem resident. “They have a strong team and should compete well against China and Japan, who are also very good.” The USA hasn’t medaled in men’s gymnastics at the Olympics since 2008, he notes.

A third-year medical student, Jessen competed at both the Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo Olympics as a member of the Czech team.

“I didn’t win any medals,” he says, “but it was a good, fun experience.”

He holds dual US and Czech citizenships, as he was born in the Czech Republic to a Czech mother. Both his parents – his father is American – coached Jessen and his sister and continue preparing standout gymnasts for national and international competition, including the Olympics.

In addition to his appearances at the Olympics, Jessen was on the U.S. Junior National Team for five years, and when he turned 18, he decided to compete for the Czech team. He said that he was fortunate to have this opportunity, as he was able to compete in multiple European and World Championships and World Cups, in addition to the Olympics. Following Tokyo, he competed in one more Czech

National event and then decided to “retire” from gymnastics to focus on pursuing a career in medicine.

“I miss gymnastics,” said Jessen, adding, “I’d love to keep going with it, but it takes such a toll on your whole body.”

He chose to attend Temple/St. Luke’s medical school near his home, exchanging the physically grueling and ultra-competitive demands of the sport for the opportunity to help and heal the ill and injured in his community.

“I’ve always loved math and science, and medicine has always been a major interest like gymnastics.”

When he’s not busy refining his diagnostic and treatment skills, Jessen occasionally can be found at the Parkettes National Gymnastics Training Center, in Allentown, where he trained and met his wife, Ashley, also a retired gymnast and now a physician assistant in orthopedics. He might practice a few simple moves from his days as a competitor or visit with his former coach Vasili Vinogradov, who is training some of the future gymnasts who hope to someday compete for the US in the Olympics.

Jessen hopes to specialize in orthopedics, having suffered a rash of injuries to his knee and shoulder while training and competing. Following nearly a decade of post-graduate training, performing a residency and fellowship in orthopedics, he dreams of someday serving as a sports surgeon for the US Olympic or men’s national gymnastics teams.

About St. Luke’s

Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network of more than 20,000 employees providing services at 15 campuses and 350+ outpatient sites.  With annual net revenue of $3.4 billion, the Network’s service area includes 11 counties in two states: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. St. Luke’s hospitals operate the largest network of trauma centers in Pennsylvania, with the Bethlehem Campus being home to St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital.

Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke’s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania.  In partnership with Temple University, the Network established the Lehigh Valley’s first and only four-year medical school campus.  It also operates the nation’s oldest School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 52 fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with more than 500 residents and fellows. In 2022, St. Luke’s, a member of the Children’s Hospital Association, opened the Lehigh Valley’s first and only free-standing facility dedicated entirely to kids.

SLUHN is the only Lehigh Valley-based health care system to earn Medicare’s five-star ratings (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction.  It is both a Leapfrog Group and Healthgrades Top Hospital and a Newsweek World’s Best Hospital.  The Network’s flagship University Hospital has earned the 100 Top Major Teaching Hospital designation from Fortune/PINC AI 10 years in a row, including in 2023 when it was identified as THE #4 TEACHING HOSPITAL IN THE COUNTRY.  In 2021, St. Luke’s was identified as one of the 15 Top Health Systems nationally.  Utilizing the Epic electronic medical record (EMR) system for both inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of the Most Wired award recognizing the breadth of the SLUHN’s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information.  The Network is also recognized as one of the state’s lowest-cost providers.

Information provided to TVL by:
Sam Kennedy