Why I Chose Medicine: 2026 KU School of Medicine graduates reflect on their path

Some University of Kansas School of Medicine graduates know early on that they want to become physicians. Some have a midlife career change and obtain their medical degrees with a family in tow.

Students from across Kansas, the United States and the world flock to KU Medical Center for the education they need to join the healthcare workforce. These learners come from varied backgrounds, but all have one thing in common: a desire to care for their communities as physicians, nurses or other healthcare professionals.

Below, in this second of three stories highlighting students graduating from KU Medical Center this week, three members of the KU School of Medicine class of 2026 share their “why.” (See first story in series.)

Brynn Niblock

Hometown: Hoxie, Kansas

Campus and degree: Salina, M.D.

Residency: Obstetrics and gynecology at Baylor Scott and White All Saints Medical Center, Fort Worth, Texas

Why medicine: As a child, Niblock heard about physician shortages around the dinner table. Her mother was chief financial officer of the small hospital in their rural northwest Kansas town.

“They really were struggling to get physicians, and I saw that,” Niblock said.

Niblock liked the idea of doing something she enjoyed — science — while making a difference in people’s lives. She realized, “there was a need and a place for me in that world.”

Niblock became a certified nursing assistant in high school. She played volleyball at Colby Community College and completed her undergraduate degree at Fort Hays State University. During her obstetrics and gynecology rotation at KU, she knew it was the specialty for her.

“I love that I can take care of women from teenagers to post-menopausal females, the whole spectrum,” Niblock said. “I can care for that same person through all those stages of life.”

What’s next: Niblock wants to return to Kansas and have an impact on rural health, whether through her practice or outreach. “I still carry that passion for rural medicine with me.”

Davante’ Hammer

Hometown: Scandia, Kansas

Campus and degree: Wichita, M.D.

Residency: Neurology at University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska

Why medicine: Hammer injured his shoulder playing football in high school and made the nearly four-hour trip to KU Medical Center for surgery to repair a torn labrum. The experience didn’t just fix his shoulder; it intrigued him.

“I enjoyed the complexities of patient presentations, the physiology of diseases, knowing how, when and why to treat patients,” Hammer said. “That curiosity ultimately pushed me toward medicine.” 

Hammer’s family has farmed in Scandia for multiple generations, and he grew up helping with crops, cattle and goats. He followed in his relatives’ footsteps to Kansas State University, where he majored in microbiology with a minor in business. He also gained research experience, exploring how peptides change the microenvironment of melanoma.

In medical school, Hammer’s research with the KU Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center sparked his interest in neurology.

What’s next: Hammer likes the breadth of the neurology field, and he’s heading into residency with an open mind. Down the road, he’s interested in helping outreach clinics in rural settings.

“I think neurology is making a lot of advancements,” Hammer said. “I’m looking forward to being part of a field that’s rapidly changing.”

Antonia McMonigle

Hometown: Oyster Bay, New York

Campus and degree: Kansas City, M.D.

Residency: Diagnostic radiology, with a preliminary year in internal medicine, at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire

Why medicine: McMonigle is a former pastry chef and the mother of three boys, ages 6, 3 and 2.

She started college considering a healthcare career — but dropped out to go to culinary school instead. She worked at restaurants and resorts in South Carolina and Utah, specializing in fine-dining desserts, including wedding cakes. She and her husband, also a former chef, moved to Kansas City to be closer to his family, and McMonigle became executive pastry chef at Webster House in downtown Kansas City, Missouri.

But baking wasn’t satisfying her intellectual curiosity, and McMonigle was ready for a career change.

Working in a kitchen is high-stress, McMonigle said. It requires acuity, multi-tasking, teamwork and making decisions under pressure. By comparison, becoming a physician — a radiologist, specifically — seemed “lifestyle-friendly.”

McMonigle went back to finish college. She had her first child before her senior year at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She had the others during medical school, taking a yearlong leave of absence after baby No. 3.

Besides the flexibility of radiology, McMonigle likes the technological and visual aspects. Visual analysis like watching bubbles break in a pot of boiling sugar and knowing exactly what type of candy they’re ready for are second nature to her. “Pastry skills translate very well into medicine,” she said.

What’s next: McMonigle’s own mother inspired her to keep evolving. She completed her residency at 53 and is still practicing as a family medicine physician.

McMonigle said, “I want to show my kids that it’s never too late to follow your goals.”