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Mark Jeranko (Chemistry and Biochemistry, '10) moved from Colorado’s Front Range to Durango to play basketball at Fort Lewis College in 2005, the same year his father, Skip, was inducted into FLC’s Athletics Hall of Fame. Jeranko played forward for the Skyhawks’ 2005-10 seasons. The Skyhawks won the 2008 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and made the NCAA tournament three of Jeranko’s five years.

“Building those relationships with teammates was probably the best part of going to college,” Jeranko said. “Lots of my best friends today are the guys I played with [at FLC].”

Besides FLC’s quality basketball program, Jeranko chose the school for the small class sizes and access to faculty. His passion for science and healthcare led him to FLC’s renowned Chemistry & Biochemistry Department.

“I thought FLC was unlike anything I’d ever seen,” Jeranko said. “It felt like a good fit for me. I would’ve been lost in the shuffle or just another number at a bigger school.”

After graduating from FLC with Chemistry and Biochemistry degrees in 2010, Jeranko earned his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Kansas City University of Medicine & Biosciences. He completed his internal medicine residency at Michigan State University and his rheumatology fellowship at Wayne State University in Detroit. Jeranko is board certified in internal medicine and works with patients ranging from teenage to the elderly at the Colorado Arthritis Center.

“Healthcare is a field that’s constantly expanding,” Jeranko said. “There’s such a high demand for these jobs with the aging population. When patients are looking for a good physician, they want someone well-rounded. You need a strong background in science, but it’s good to improve in other areas, like public speaking and writing. Those skills were something that Fort Lewis instilled in me as a student. If I did it all over again, I would still choose Fort Lewis; I’d do it exactly the same way.”