Friend’s death prompts choice
Katie Cone
HOULTON — When she was 9 years old, Katie Cone experienced the sudden loss of a childhood friend.
The grief over the unexpected death not only impacted her emotionally, it pushed Cone to make a promise to herself that when she got older, she would became a pediatrician to honor her friend’s memory.
Last month, she took the first step to making that happen when she was accepted into medical school at the University of New England’s College of Osteopathic Medicine in Biddeford.
“I am really excited to take this step,” she said during a recent interview. Classes began on Aug. 1, and she is now preparing for her first set of exams. “I really had to hurry to get ready, because there was not much time before I got my acceptance letter and when classes began.”
Cone was motivated to choose a path in medicine after the 2003 death of childhood friend Logan Dewitt, who passed away suddenly at age 5. Cone was 9 at the time.
“Since my father is the fire chief in Houlton and Logan’s father was a firefighter, Logan would always be hanging around the fire station and I loved to play with him,” she recalled. “We had so many play dates together, and then just suddenly he was taken away so quickly without explanation. Death was something you didn’t understand at that age, especially when it happens in childhood. And he was such a special person to me, and to the community. It was just such a terrible blow. I really remember knowing immediately that I wanted to go into medicine after losing him.”
Cone, a graduate of Houlton High School, also graduated from the University of New England with degrees in medical biology and neuroscience with a minor in psychology.
While in college, she received an internship position at Houlton Regional Hospital after applying to the Daniel Hanley Center for Health Leaderships Internship Program. She was one of UNE’s first recipients to be awarded one of the internship experiences. At Houlton Regional Hospital, Cone worked closely with the medical staff in the pediatrics and internal medicine departments, and also with the administrative department. The non-profit, Portland-based Hanley Center encourages undergraduate students to practice in Maine after receiving their medical degrees. Cone hopes to practice in Maine after she graduates, if possible.
She also has presented her research findings regarding drug development, drug discovery, methods development, and bone biology measures at local, national, and international conferences and has been published in several journals.
Despite her rigorous curriculum, she said she loves what she is studying and still thinks often of Logan Dewitt.
“I never once in college thought about changing my major,” she said. “I am so focused on doing this, so totally focused on achieving this goal. Logan is always going to be a part of my life. I don’t think you ever forget those people that were such an important part of your childhood.”
