MSU online Master's Degree Helped Put Daryl Traylor on the Long Path to Success

In the long, eventful journey that has characterized Daryl Traylor’s life, his stop, figuratively, in East Lansing to gain his online Master’s degree in pharmacology and toxicology has been a major step.

“That degree was important to me in many ways,” he said. “Personally, it gave me the confidence to have the ability to succeed in a rigorous academic environment. I didn’t have a lot of confidence. And since then, I wouldn’t have done all I’ve done without that MSU master’s degree. I made friends that I’ll have for life, and I really cherish those friends. And it opened the path for me to medical school. I won’t say the PhmTox degree gave me the world, but it opened up a lot of doors I would not have had otherwise.”

He enrolled in the fledgling online Master’s program in January 2011 and completed the coursework in May 2012. After that, he earned a second Master’s degree in public health from MSU.

Today, Traylor, at the age of 53, is in his second year of medical school at the University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine in San Antonio, Texas. Upon graduation, he plans to open a practice.

“I can see myself practicing 5 to 10 years and then go into academic medicine and maybe the dean of a medical school,” he said.

Traylor’s drive and enthusiasm at an age when many people are starting to contemplate retirement is passed down from his father Curtis, a long-time pharmacist who plans to pursue a Ph.D. in physics. He’s 78.

Traylor’s journey to MSU and points beyond really began when he was a child in Houston, and he developed an early love of service to others. He enlisted in the Army and served as an active-duty medic for eight years before transitioning to the Oklahoma Army and Air National Guards.

He then earned his Bachelor of Science in microbiology and health promotion/sociology from Northern Arizona University. He took the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and did “reasonably well,” he said, but he also knew his final undergrad GPA wasn’t great.

“I knew I needed to do something to show I could do the job, and I thought having a master’s degree would open doors,” he said.

So, he did his homework on remote online Master’s programs that would specialize in his field of interest.

“MSU was pretty new, and I liked the lineup of courses,” he said. “It seemed like one of the few graduate programs willing to give me a chance.”

He also struck up a friendship with one of the program’s early advisors, Dr. Roseann Vorce, who encouraged him to apply.

“She was supportive of my desire,” he said. “One of the coolest things was when Dr. Vorce made a trip down to Arizona, and she asked me and my wife out for dinner. We had these personal connections with peers in the program.”

Traylor also said Dr. Vorce was key in helping him learn how to study the way grad students are supposed to study.

“Respiratory pharmacology was one of my first classes,” he recalled with a laugh. “As an undergrad, you don’t know how to study. You read the book and make some notes. I applied that same sort of strategy to my first pharmacology course. I promptly bombed. I asked Dr. Vorce, ‘What did I do wrong?’ She said I memorized everything. She said memorizing isn’t going to work. You need to apply that information. She gave me some great tips. I also learned scientific writing from her and all those lessons she taught me, I apply to my current writing which I pass on to my students today.”

He began teaching after graduation and continues to mentor first-generation medical students. And in 2021, he earned his Ph.D. in Nursing and Health Care Innovation from Northern Arizona.

It has been a long, eventful journey for Daryl Traylor, but through it all, he recalls his experience at MSU as a transformative experience.

“In all honesty, I have a great deal of affection for MSU,” he said. “My wife (Eboni) is from Detroit and we’re talking about coming back to Michigan when I graduate. I’d love to come back and teach.”

And he also remains a strong advocate for the online program.

“For students who are looking for a chance to prove themselves and have various academic doors open, I’d encourage them to apply,” he said. “There are enough courses at MSU that students can literally create their path.”

Click here for more information on the MSU Online Masters Degree Program