A Kalamazoo College alumnus and a 2018 graduate of the medical school’s Internal Medicine Residency Program are among three of the medical school’s newest faculty members.
Nicholas J. Helmstetter, MD, and Prashant P. Patel, DO, joined WMed’s departments of Medicine and Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine as assistant professors on Monday, July 30, 2018.
Dr. Helmstetter earned his medical degree in 2014 from Wayne State University School of Medicine where he was inducted into the school’s Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society chapter and, earlier this year, he completed a four-year residency in Internal Medicine-Pediatrics at Michigan Medicine. In 2017, he completed a one-year Community of Medical Educators in Training (CoMET) fellowship in Ann Arbor.
Dr. Helmstetter is a 2010 graduate of K-College where he earned a bachelor’s degree in biology. He is certified in Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Pediatric Advanced Life Support and the Neonatal Resuscitation Program, and Dr. Helmstetter is a member of the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and the National Med-Peds Residents’ Association.
Meanwhile, Dr. Patel began his duties in the Department of Medicine shortly after completing his residency training at WMed. He served as chief resident in his final year of residency.
Prior to coming to WMed, Dr. Patel earned his medical degree from Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2015 and a master’s degree in Basic Medical Sciences from Wayne State University School of Medicine in 2011. He is a member of the American College of Physicians, the Michigan Osteopathic Association, the American Thoracic Society, the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the American College of Chest Physicians.
Dr. Patel is certified in Basic Life Support and Advanced Cardiac Life Support. During his time as a resident physician at WMed, Dr. Patel was the recipient of two research awards and served as the Internal Medicine Resident Representative on the Osteopathic Programs and Graduate Medical Education committees.
Drs. Helmstetter and Patel are being joined at the medical school by Peter J. Vollbrecht, PhD, who began his duties as an assistant professor of Physiology in the Department of Biomedical Sciences. Prior to coming to WMed, Dr. Vollbrecht was a visiting assistant professor of Biology at Hope College for three years.
Dr. Vollbrecht earned his PhD in 2014 from the Neuroscience Program at Vanderbilt University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Michigan in 2015. He is an alumnus of Hope College where he earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 2007.
Dr. Vollbrecht is the recipient of several academic and professional honors, and has authored several research publications and abstracts. He is a member of the American Physiological Society, the Michigan Physiological Society, the Michigan Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience and the Society for the Study of Investigative Behavior.