At 46, Ohio businessman heading to medical school

“Pastors, doctors, nurses, social workers, urban pioneers. I felt I needed to invest the rest of my active career on a fulltime basis.”

He will enroll at Cleveland State University in the fall in its new joint program with Northeast Ohio Medical University to provide doctors in underserved urban neighborhoods.

Rev. Duane Crabbs, who founded South Street Ministries in Akron with his wife, Lisa, 15 years ago, has worked with Downing for six years and calls him humble and a man of great integrity.

“He understands that to impact in a substantial way there has to be a commitment to community,” Crabbs said.

After graduating from Bowling Green State University, Downing began working full time at the family’s Downing Enterprises in Copley Township near Akron. The company makes trade show exhibits and checkout counter displays.

Five years later, he enrolled at Harvard Business School and received a master’s in business administration and now serves as chairman and CEO of the company.

A member of Grace Church in Bath, he began volunteering in urban Akron areas about 10 years ago. That’s how he met Crabbs and became active in his ministry.

About three years ago, Downing began thinking about a new career focused on helping those in the inner city.

“I felt my best way to make an impact was in health care,” he said. “I always had an interest in medicine. It was like a pebble in my shoe. I wanted to enter into a relationship with people as a healer and someone interested in their life.”

The 35 students in his program, for those who already have a bachelor’s degree, are a mix of ages, races and backgrounds.

“Whoever the architects were of the program, they were spot on,” Downing said. “They came up with what I consider a game-changing concept. It was exactly aligned with what I wanted to do.”

Dr. Jeff Susman, dean of the college of medicine at NEOMED, said only a handful of middle age adults enroll in medical school but a program like CSU’s will likely attract people passionate about making an impact and changing careers.

Downing said he began divesting himself of the day-to-day operations of his business about two years ago when he made a commitment to become a doctor.

Downing said balancing family, academics and business are paramount, but the years of study he faces do not deter him.

“I understand the journey. I understand the risks. But if the outcome is to make a difference for other people, it is worth taking the risk,” he said.