Undergraduate School: Texas Tech
Medical School: University of North Texas Health Science Center
You’re probably looking at this thinking who’s that studly guy? How is he such a swanky dresser? Why is he smiling so big? The first 2 questions have obvious answers: “Sunny” Italiya and because I’m just so fresh. The last question is easy: because I’m here living my dream at this amazing residency.
I was born in Virginia, but we moved to Texas before I had even started kindergarten, so I like to think of myself as a Texan. Growing up I knew I wanted to be a doctor. Those stethoscopes and shocky-paddle thingies were just so cool. I went to high school in Plano, TX and enrolled in a clinical rotations program. I found myself in the ER on one of my first rotations and longed for it every rotation afterwards. The flame had been lit and would inevitably become an inferno.
I left home for college and ended up at Texas Tech (WRECK ‘EM!) in Lubbock, TX. I joined the pre-med societies and spent whatever time I could volunteering in the local ER when I wasn’t tailgating or at the football games. The organized chaos is what kept me so interested. I made it into medical school at UNTHSC Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Worth, TX. The beginning of the dream was finally here. I decided to keep an open mind and enjoyed many of the clerkships I went through, but the ER was always in the back of my mind.
When it came time for residency I knew I wanted to end up somewhere that would challenge me each and every day. Somewhere I could find opportunities to learn at every corner. Somewhere that would make me the best doctor I could possibly be. That place was here in Corpus Christi. I spent 1 month doing an audition rotation here during my 3rd year of medical school and I learned more, and did more, than all of my other audition rotations combined. After that great of an experience, the decision was easy.
Since moving to Corpus, I couldn’t be happier. I spend my free time out at the beach, exploring the city, and of course, working on my car any chance I get. I’m an avid auto enthusiast and marathoner…of Netflix. If I could do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing. Come check us out and see what I’m talking about for yourself!