Q&A with Young Alumnus Dr. Raoul Manalac

 

Dr. Raoul Manalac graduated from LSU in 2007 with a bachelor’s of science in Biological Sciences and Psychology. He earned his medical degree from and completed his internal medicine residency at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Manalac's post-doctoral research included researching side effects of statin therapy and lipid profile analysis on heart disease. He practices as a hospitalist with the Franciscan Missionaries of our Lady Health System in Baton Rouge. We caught up with Dr. Manalac to get his perspective on his time at LSU and beyond.

What was your experience in medical school and in your residency?

I went to medical school out of state and a couple of us were from big state schools. My first year also happened to be 2007, and so it was a lot of fun for me (less so for some friends who went to Ohio State). On weekends we’d go to each other’s campuses for games (when exams allowed) and a couple came down to LSU for a game. A couple of them went to small schools in the north where they didn’t have any allegiance at the time, but I’m proud to say they’re Tiger fans to this day. 

There was always at least one person in our residency class from Louisiana or who had went to LSU. Because of that, a year above me, they started a tradition of having a crawfish boil every year. I remember my second year after a call shift, I had to wait at my house for the crawfish to be delivered. We stored them in my garage for the night, but I almost lost all of them because a friend of mine came over and started playing with the bag of said crawfish. I stopped him just in time and had to spent most of the rest of the night guarding the crawfish from curious visitors. That said, every year, there’s a crawfish boil done by folks from LSU and it’s always a lot of fun. 

What advice would you give LSU’s young science alumni?

Take time to learn about the people that are in your classes and clubs. Those relationships are what you will take with you and often cherish for the rest of your life. 

What was your most academically challenging moment at LSU and how did that influence you?

My Fall semester in 2006. I had decided to take a particularly heavy course load that semester as well as got more involved with extracurriculars. In addition to these, there were personal and professional challenges that I faced that took up a lot of my time. That semester not only taught me a lot about my limits from an involvement standpoint, but also taught me about how important it is to have strong networks of people around you to support you through tough times. 

Who was your favorite professor while at LSU and how did they inspire you?

Though I was never her formal student, Dr. Drew Lamonica-Arms was my favorite professor. She was my advisor for a national scholarship for which I applied. Though I didn’t get the scholarship, my time with her taught me how to express myself through writing and how to think deeply about my own experiences. I use the lessons she taught me on self-reflection and self-expression almost every day.

How has your relationship with your alma mater changed since graduation?

When I started at LSU, I looked at it as a stepping stone to some great destination far away. As I’ve grown up and gone to some of those places and accomplished some of my goals, I realize that LSU is a destination as well. Louisiana, and particularly LSU, can be places of great opportunity and success.