Alumni spotlight: Haskin family leaves legacy for College of Medicine and their mark on MUSC

Bennett Haskin’s virtual graduation from the MUSC College of Medicine in May 2020 was different, but no less significant, than her parents’ graduation from the college decades earlier.

 

“She did the Hippocratic oath right there online, and we joined in and took the oath again with her,” said her father, retired hand and wrist surgeon J. Stewart Haskin Jr., M.D.

 

Stewart Haskin met his future wife, Susan, at a College of Medicine health fair in 1978, when he was a senior and she was a freshman. Over the next five years, both advanced in their medical careers. He completed an internship in general surgery, a residency in orthopedics and a fellowship in hand surgery. Susan graduated from the college in 1981 and completed an anesthesiology residency at MUSC in 1983. That same year, Stewart and Susan were married and began their medical careers in Conway, South Carolina.

Dr. Susan Haskin was recruited to be the first anesthesiologist at Conway Medical Center, while Dr. Stewart Haskin co-founded Coastal Orthopedic Associates, PA. Throughout their 32-plus year careers, the Haskins became leaders in the Conway medical community. Dr. Susan Haskin led her department as chair of anesthesia, and Dr. Stewart Haskin served as president of his orthopedic surgery clinic and chief of staff at Conway Medical Center. Both retired in 2015. Much to their delight, there is now another Dr. Haskin at Conway Medical Center.

 

Dr. Bennett Haskin Teal, who got married in June, is serving a family medicine residency at Conway Medical Center, where she was born and where her parents practiced for more than three decades. “A lot of friends and former colleagues see her at the hospital and comment on how another Dr. Haskin is roaming the halls,” Dr. Stewart Haskin proudly shared.

Teal's interest in medicine was sparked by working summers with her sister at their father’s orthopedic surgery clinic. The then 14-year-old liked it so much, she worked more hours than asked. (Her sister, meanwhile, has pursued a career practicing law.)

When she was ready for medical school, there was only one choice for Teal: MUSC, her parents’ alma mater. “It was the only school she applied to,” her mother said.

 

While she followed in her parents’ footsteps to MUSC, she forged her own path when she chose family medicine as her specialty. “We’re that first contact for a patient,” she explained. “We’re their home base … the ones who they come to for any problem and we get them where they need to go. I really like that I can be that point person for a patient.”

The Haskins’ legacy at MUSC doesn’t end with their daughter’s graduation. Dr. Stewart Haskin has donated a life insurance policy to MUSC to ensure that future generations of medical students will benefit from his family’s generosity. “I think at any position, if you subscribe to your oath, you need to teach,” he said. “And if you can’t personally teach, give back to those who are teaching. For the university that was so good to me, I feel like I need to be good to it.”

The Haskin family also left a physical mark on the Medical University of South Carolina. They have commemorated their time at MUSC by purchasing three bricks on the Medical District Greenway, an outdoor gathering space on campus. The Haskins’ bricks, which will be engraved and placed side by side, will serve as a reminder of their time on campus and all they have accomplished throughout their individual journeys, as well as all they share as a family through their connection to MUSC.

“We can put our legacy in writing on campus, which I think is really cool,” Teal said. “When you are reading through hundreds of bricks and you notice three of the same name – that stands out. It's a tangible representation of our story and our experiences and I think that is so special for us.”