Alumnus Toby Ellison Fulfills His Dream of Medical School and Directs a Film

AVON PARK, Fla. – Aug. 30, 2024 – Toby Ellison did not always dream of becoming a physician. Instead, the seed was planted over time, eventually leading him to begin his academic journey at South Florida State College (SFSC), where the idea was further nourished. He’s now a student at St. Matthew’s University School of Medicine in the Cayman Islands.

Before leaving for medical school, Ellison had the opportunity to direct a short film titled “Charles.” The film recently won the Best Short Film award at the Eastern Europe Film Festival and has been nominated at several other film festivals.

Ellison, a native of Wauchula, Fla., graduated from SFSC in spring 2020 with an Associate in Arts and went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in Health Science from Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) in 2022. 

After completing his degree at FGCU, he realized that he needed two semesters of Organic Chemistry to vie for a spot at medical school. Because it was close to home, Ellison returned to SFSC for those courses through the Honors program.

“Because you have to do undergraduate research as part of the Honors program, I worked with Dr. Kate Calvin [Chemistry professor] on ‘GC-MS Profiling of Bioactive Compounds in Ziziphus Celata.’ In the United States, Zizphus Celata is a rare and endangered species. It’s only found on the Lake Wales Ridge in Highlands and Polk counties in the United States. We were looking at it from an environmental science perspective to see what we can do to save this plant.”

Ellison, along with three other SFSC student researchers, presented their findings on Zizphus Celata at the Florida Academy of Sciences (FAS) Meeting in April 2023.

He became intrigued by the undergraduate research conducted at SFSC under mentor Dr. Mintoo Patel [Biology instructor]. “I was interested in what Dr. Patel was researching and decided to challenge and push myself to learn and asked to participate.

“With Dr. Patel, we were looking at bacteria that are found on the tongue that can be linked to gastric cancers,” he said. “I chose the research because gastric cancer is the fifth leading cause of death at this time globally. It’s interesting to see that even through our eating habits the bacteria can accumulate in the mouth. From there, of course, it goes to the stomach. We were able to test people’s tongues. You might have thought that a person who was a smoker would be more at risk, but even those you would call healthy people, we found bacteria in their mouths that could be linked to cancer later.

“During my interviews for medical school, I had a chance to talk about that research,” Ellison said. “Undergraduate research pushes you to learn more. Your scope of knowledge is more in-depth because you’re hands-on with it. At my first research presentation, it felt good that people would ask me questions about my research topic and I was able to explain because we’d spent so many hours going over it in the lab. It’s a beautiful thing to acquire that type of knowledge and those skills. You learn laboratory procedures and skills, such as pipetting. You’re also working with your other classmates, so everybody’s doing something to add to the overall research.”

Ellison’s desire to go into medicine grew from his everyday associations with people he knew in the community. “I’ve always been raised in church settings and, being raised in the church, I kept hearing people’s problems, their medical concerns, and I would say, ‘I can pray for you and I’ll listen to you.’ Because I’m not a doctor, I didn’t have the medical knowledge to be able to do anything. I started to believe that it was my moral obligation to see if I could put myself in the right environment to grow, and then I could serve others by using my skills to make a meaningful impact. I decided to challenge myself and develop the self-belief that I could go to medical school.”

Ellison took the initiative and approached AdventHealth Hospital in Sebring to see if he could shadow doctors. “They told me that they normally only let medical students shadow doctors, but I got approval,” he said. “I shadowed an internal medicine doctor for a few days. I went with him on rounds, he explained to me patients’ diagnoses, and discussed the types of treatments he would prescribe. I also shadowed an internal medicine doctor in private practice.” Through SFSC’s Co-Op program, Ellison wrote a paper about his experiences and earned college credit.

While a student with Dr. Calvin, Ellison picked her brain. “Dr. Calvin had taught at a medical school for a few years. When she was teaching our classes at SFSC, she would tie in a lot of medical information. She knew that some of her students wanted to go to medical school.”

Although it’s early in Ellison’s studies as a medical student, he’s considering two areas of practice – Internal Medicine and Psychiatry.

Where he’d like to practice medicine is another consideration. “We talk about that at medical school – how there are a lot of places that don’t have doctors, such as rural areas,” he said. “Maybe I can go to a place where a doctor is most needed. When I did my undergraduate work in Health Sciences, we looked at health care in disadvantaged areas, such as food deserts. In a food desert, the population will likely have a lot of medical issues. I could pretty much work anywhere, but I’ll definitely look into those areas to practice. At the moment, I’m staying open to a variety of options.”

In summer 2023, Ellison took a brief break from his studies to exercise his creative muscles. His short film “Charles,” is a true-life story about a young man named Charles Mason who started his own church which became Church of God in Christ. The church was founded in 1897 and now boasts over 6 million members. Ellison became involved in the project because his uncle, Edward Hearns, wrote a book about Mason and wanted to turn it into a film. He showed Ellison a script and asked him to direct it.

“When I was growing up, I was always the one holding the camera and telling my brothers and sisters ‘Do this, say that. If you don’t do it, I’m gonna tell Mom.’ In 2015, I took classes at a film school in Orlando because I wanted to learn about editing and aspects of filmmaking. I then started writing and editing. But I hadn’t done much because I was in college and doing research.

“We made ‘Charles’ in Tennesee with the help of aspiring actors and no budget. No films had been made about Mason, so we decided it was our chance to fill the gap.” Currently, “Charles” is circulating worldwide film festivals until next year. In the meantime, view the trailer HERE.

Ellison’s advice to anyone facing a challenge, whether it’s about attending college or life in general, is: “Even if you’re in a good situation and you’re capable of doing more, offering more, don’t be afraid to push yourself, stretch yourself, challenge yourself. Leave your comfort zone and push yourself. For me, it was going to medical school. Put yourself in the right environment to grow. You have to actively pursue your dreams.”

[Photos courtesy of Toby Ellison.]