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WHEELING - Dr. Michael Batalo's love of science and medicine sprouted when he started hearing stories about his own heart.

He was born with a hole in it, and as he grew his heart sort of repaired itself - the gap "spontaneously closed," he said.

As he entered school in Steubenville, the sciences also piqued his interest in medicine. His mother, Stephanie Batalo, battled breast cancer and that also influenced his decision to become a doctor, in addition to her love of working as a nurse practitioner.

Batalo, 27, is among the latest batch of West Virginia University School of Medicine graduates. In addition to Batalo, other local graduates include Dr. Michael Velez of Wheeling who now is an internal medicine resident at Ohio State University; Dr. Pete Zervos of Glen Dale who is an internal medicine resident at WVU; and Dr. Nicholas Galardi of Wheeling who is a surgical resident at Eastern Virginia Medical School.

Since graduating from WVU's School of Medicine, Batalo began his medical internship at Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown. Life as a doctor is about what he expected - long hours and lots of paperwork. But he is savoring every minute of it.

"I enjoy talking to people. Every day is a different scenario. I don't dread going to work in the morning," Batalo said.

His advice to medical students is to remember to treat patients as if they were a member of their own family. And if there is work to be done on a patient, even if one's shift is over, the work should be completed.

"You don't just want to leave them," he said.

Batalo credits his good work ethic to his mom and his dad, Mitch, a semi-retired steel salesman.

"He always wanted to be a doctor. We're proud of him," Stephanie Batalo said of her son. "It was a real calling. He was always really focused."

She noted her son is the youngest child in the family, having three older sisters.

"He's the baby in the family ... He was born and raised like he had four mothers," she said.

Batalo said he has not decided on a specialty yet, but he is interested in oncology because of his mother's breast cancer fight.

"I'm thankful for how things turned out for her," he said.

In addition to his intern year, Batalo said he will be a medical resident for two years. And if he picks a specialty, such as oncology, he will be required to complete a fellowship.

Velez, the son of Wheeling dentist Dr. Manny Velez and Mary Velez, said he wanted to become a doctor to help people.

But one of the biggest influences on his decision to become a physician was his brother, Matt, who died after his heart began to fail during a high school physical education class. The event prompted his mother to start a campaign to raise money to purchase AEDs, or automated external defibrillators, for schools across the region. An AED was not available the day of Matt's episode.

"After Matt passed away, I realized I wanted to do more with my abilities," Velez said, noting before then he was leaning toward engineering. "He had a lot of good doctors when he was sick."

Good doctors, he noted, don't always have good outcomes with their patients. That makes the experience between doctor and patient even more important, he said.

Velez added his parents have always been supportive of his decision to become a doctor.

"I could have done anything and they would have been just as proud," he said.

Zervos and Galardi could not be reached for comment.