Ryan Bell

Ryan Bell brings many diverse experiences with him to the Department of Human Physiology. Instead of jumping directly into University after High School, Ryan first joined the Marines and served 4 years in Iraq and Afghanistan. This experience added to the many places that Ryan has lived around the world, which already included New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and Japan. Ryan chose the University of Oregon to pursue his Bachelor of Science degree to be closer to his grandparents in Klamath Falls. Following in his grandfather’s footsteps, Ryan spent last year cramming 2-years of flying lessons into 6 months to earn his pilot’s license. Ryan’s dog Zoey is both his regular co-pilot, and a certified therapy dog. Together they visit the children’s ward of the hospital to offer the children a distraction from their surroundings. Sometimes, Zoey also joins Ryan at his Friday HPHY seminar, much to everyone’s delight.

Ryan has spent the last few terms shadowing physicians in various fields of medicine, from the emergency room to the dermatology clinic, to learn more about his future options. Ryan is already a licensed Massage Therapist in both Hawaii and Oregon, and a Personal Trainer schooled through the National Council on Strength and Fitness, but he is using his time as a Human Physiology major to survey the many possible careers he could pursue.

Last year Ryan took a medical ethics class, and is pursuing publication of an article he wrote on the topic of medical ethics in the military. This year he has been focused on the Human Anatomy and Human Physiology courses, and is looking forward to a challenging dissection of the abdomen of a human cadaver in the spring. Ryan appears to have found balance in his life as a student while continuing to pursue athletic and volunteer experiences: flying planes, riding motorcycles, playing volleyball, visiting family in New Zealand, skiing at Lake Tahoe, shadowing physicians, and training his therapy dog. He still finds the time to fit in his homework, somehow.