Graduate Spotlight: Brandon Schonour, M.D.
Posted on May 12, 2026 by Marketing and Communications
Brandon Schonour, M.D.
Hometown: Cantonment, Florida
Undergraduate Institution: Florida State University
Residency Match: Diagnostic Radiology, University of Maryland
What drew you to this specific specialty? Was there a specific moment or rotation that solidified this choice for you?
In the third grade, I was racing my friend across the monkey bars on the playground. I fell and hurt my arm, so I had to go to the hospital to have X-rays taken of it. Given that I was so young, I thought that they were going to have to cut into my arm to see what was going on. Worst day ever. However, the technologist that day did such a remarkable job of explaining what was going to happen and reassuring me that I was going to be okay. Then, at the end, he actually showed me the imaging, and that was all it took. I was hooked. The ability to diagnose something like my broken arm so quickly and non-invasively really caught my eye. Ever since then, diagnostic radiology is what I have wanted to do. I have wanted to be the person to help provide clarity to patients about their clinical conditions through imaging.
What are you most excited about as you enter residency and become a physician?
Getting the chance to put into practice all of the knowledge that I have learned at USA and even going back to my undergraduate studies at FSU. It feels so surreal that I am actually going to be able to start practicing as a physician now and not a student.
Where do you see your career going in 5 to 10 years?
I see myself having just completed my fellowship training in diagnostic radiology and starting my career as an attending physician. I would like to train in an academic center, because the chance to give back and help teach upcoming medical students and residents really excites me. Also, I really enjoy doing research, so having that be some degree of my practice I would love as well. Setting wise, I would like to find a way to work somewhere that is near medically underserved areas. I would like to serve as a bridge between radiology and patients in these areas, to stress the importance of screening exams, ultimately to try and prevent the onset or long term progression of disease.
Why did you choose the University of South Alabama for medical school?
There were a number of reasons I initially chose USA for medical school. First, all of my family live in Pensacola, Florida, so I wanted to be close to them as I figured I would need their support to help me make it through this tough period in my life. Another reason was that the class size at the Whiddon College of Medicine was lower than I had seen in some other schools. I wanted to feel comfortable going up to professors asking them questions, and also to really feel that I was able to get to know my fellow classmates on a deeper level, and I feel I was able to do both of those things here. Finally, I had known a couple of friends from the DREAM program at USA, and so I really wanted to be at the same place as them, and so that is another strong factor that drew me to USA.
Is there a specific attending, resident or faculty member who had a significant impact on your training? How did they help shape your path?
A specific attending that had a significant impact on my training was Dr. Katherine Glosemeyer on my internal medicine rotation in our third year. What really stood out to me was that at the end of our time working with her, she ma
de an intentional effort to pull us all individually into her office to give us personalized feedback about what we could do to improve clinically going forward. You could tell that she had thought long and hard about what we could get better at, and her going above and beyond in wanting to help us at that point in our educational careers has paid dividends, as I still think about the advice she gave me to this day, and it has made me such a better early-career clinician.
What is your favorite memory from your time at the Whiddon College of Medicine?
My favorite memory would hands down have to be Match Day! Almost a decade of work, if you count undergraduate studies and medical school, all culminating in what is in that all-powerful envelope. It is such a stressful, but unique experience that now looking back on it I would not want to trade for the world. Getting to share those moments of excitement after opening the envelope with my family and friends is something that I will never forget. While there were so many long nights, missed events, etc., that it took to get to this point, finding out that I would be able to practice medicine in my dream specialty made it all worth it in an instant.
What is one piece of advice you would give to an incoming first-year student starting their medical school journey?
Be where your feet are. It is so easy in the hustle and bustle of medical school to constantly be thinking of what is next. That research project you need to work on, the UWORLD questions you have to do when you get home, etc. It is really easy to let some of the little things like really memorable patient experiences you’ll have slip through the cracks. Also, while as an M1 you think that your time in medical school is going to be an eternity, in actuality looking back on it now as a graduate, it flies by. So, all in all, really just try to enjoy it and soak it all in.