When Dr. Cam Enarson returned to the University of Alberta to interview for medical school, he was expecting to get slammed with some difficult questions.

What it turned out to be was quite different than what he expected.

“I went there, and they asked if I had any questions, and I said ‘no,’ and they handed me my first schedule and I said thank you,” he said.

And with that, Enarson returned to Alberta and began medical school.

A few decades later, Enarson was named interim dean for Central Michigan University’s school of medicine.

“I got a call (in the spring), asking me if I were interested in coming up and visiting Mount Pleasant and meeting Provost (Julia) Wallace at that time, and (Vice Provost of Academic Administration) Ray Christie,” he said. “I thought it sounded like a pretty good opportunity, and I took them up on the offer to come up.”

Enarson, who is originally from Alberta, Canada, attended college at the University of Alberta in pre-med as an undergraduate student. Before graduating, his adviser suggested he apply for medical school. At the age of 20, Enarson was accepted into the University of Alberta’s medical school program and graduated at the age of 24.

After going into private practice for a few years in Cape Cod, Mass., Enarson decided to return to the academic world, this time in the MBA program in the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. While attending, he found that he had an interesting fascination with medical schools and how they worked.

“So I wrote a letter to the dean at the University of Pennsylvania and said ‘I’d like to learn how a medical school is ran.’ So, as deans do, he passed my letter off to the vice dean of education, and he invited me to come spend the summer with him,” Enarson said. “That got me involved with medical education, and I really loved that, and that became my career focus when I was ready to leave Wharton.”

After graduating, Enarson went on to work at Wake Forest University, serving in several positions in its School of Medicine. He was appointed to work at Creighton University in 2003, and worked as the vice president for health services there, as well as serving as a visiting scholar to the University of North Carolina, where his son attends.

Interim University President Kathy Wilbur said the addition of Enarson to the medical school will benefit CMU in the long run.

“Cam is a medical school educator. He has so much experience in this area,” she said. “At Creighton and at Wake Forest.he has walked many schools and worked with many schools as they go through the accreditation process.”

While at Creighton, Enarson said there were several things he was most proud of, including the usage of technology in and out of the classroom-something the school at Creighton led in using.

“The school of medicine was the leader in the incorporation of information technology, and we’re the first to podcast all the lectures in the first and second year,” he said.

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E-mail the author: David Veselenak