Dallas Tolman, a 2025 graduate of Star Valley High School, returned from Boston, Massachusetts last week where he had spent several days attending The Congress of Future Medical Leaders. Tolman was nominated for the honor by an anonymous community member last winter and spent all spring preparing financially for the trip.

Dallas is a diligent student who completed his studies at SVHS with a 3.8 GPA. He was actively involved in the school and community as a member of the SVHS yearbook staff, a varsity soccer team member, a volunteer with his church congregation, and as an intern at Star Valley Health in the Radiology Department. Though he is unsure when or where his interest in medicine was born, Dallas is certain that he wants to learn as much as possible about the science and career opportunities offered through the study of medicine. His fascination with medicine has taken him places that most seniors in high school only go when they are unwell. “I like to go over and see what’s going on at the hospital,” he shared with SVI Media. He has been invited to “stand behind the doctors and watch everything they do and interact with the patients.”

The son of Dallin and Natalie Tolman, Dallas traveled to Boston with his parents and attended the Congress with 4000 other young men and women who are interested in medicine. The delegates spent the week learning from doctors, scientists and engineers who work in the medical field.  Most of the information was presented in a large arena in a lecture format and Dallas had a great experience.

“We got to watch a live stream of a shoulder replacement surgery,” Dallas shared. “There was a guy on the stage that we would send questions to online, and he had a connection to the doctor, so he could talk to him, and he would ask those questions and the doctor would answer. So, we got to see the whole surgery. It was pretty cool.”

One of the highlights of his experience was meeting Italian-born molecular geneticist, Mario Capecchi, who won the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Capecchi completed some of his studies at the University of Utah and the street on that campus that takes guests to the Primary Children’s Hospital is named for him. Capecchi encouraged Dallas to continue attending and learning through programs like the Congress.

“One of the speakers was 16 years old from Ethiopia,” said Dallas. “He was probably my favorite speaker. He came from nothing, and he’s so young, but he’s already succeeding! It’s just about your mindset and what you put into it to become what you want and to help other people. He was younger than me and a lot of the kids there, but he was crazy successful. He is an engineer and is trying to cure congenital heart disease. He pretty much regrows the heart with stem cells. He talked about a kid who had a surgery and was told he had a 50% chance to live, and he ended up living, but this guy doesn’t want to focus on the 50% that don’t live. He wants to focus on the 50% that do live” by studying what makes the difference, and increasing the percentage of people who heal from the disease.

Dallas was able to speak with representatives from various learning institutions and hopes to be offered scholarships because he attended.  Networking with other medical students was a great part of the experience as well.

Outside of the congress, Dallas and his family were able to attend a Boston Red Socks game at Fenway Park. He learned a lot about the history of  Boston by touring the campus of Harvard University and visiting the Freedom Trail and the burial site of Paul Revere.

Now that he has graduated, Dallas plans to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the Tennessee, Nashville Mission beginning the end of September. Following his mission, he plans to attend BYU-Idaho for his Pre-Med studies and then transfer to a medical program. He is very grateful for the community members and organizations that provided financial support for his experience in Boston. There is no way he could have attended without their generosity.

Dallas encourages youth to be proactive about their life and educational experiences. “Don’t be afraid to get out there. I was nervous and wondered if I really wanted to go. The first day was slow, but I connected with a kid there. He had questions about small towns, and I asked him about [his home]. Don’t be afraid to talk to other people because you never know where that could take you.”