Medical School: Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine
Undergraduate School: Central Washington University
Hi there everyone, my name is Zachary Felke and I am from a pacific northwest town called Marysville, Washington. Shortly after high school, I enlisted and served 8 years as a Flight Medic in the United States Air Force before graduating with my B.S. from Central Washington University. I then attended medical school at Pacific Northwest University in Yakima, Washington. Throughout this long journey, I have had my wife, Jessica by my side and we have had 3 beautiful children along the way: Emmett, Owen and Adeline.
As an eager medical student, I wanted to approach every specialty as one that I may make a career of, but ultimately the Emergency Department always felt like home. Additionally, with my previous work experience being in pre-hospital EMS, I always gravitated towards the calling to continuing my medical education in Emergency Medicine.
Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I was unable to complete a rotation at CHRISTUS Spohn. However, I had heard nothing but amazing thing about this program and I was elated to have been offered an interview and ultimately match!
For most programs, it is tough to determine “a good fit” through an interview. That’s not the case here. My advice would be to find a program that truly cares for its residents. You will be able to see this through talking with our residents. Everyone in the program gets together outside of work for beach days, fishing, volleyball or just grabbing dinner or drinks. Everyone is always checking in to make sure that residents and their families are doing well. For this reason alone, I am so happy that I chose this program.
Also, the training is second to none. With a vast array of pathology as well as being an unopposed program, CHRISTUS Spohn provides limitless critical care opportunities and procedures. It is not unheard of to have much of your residency procedural requirements completed by the end of your intern year. As emergency physicians we are expected to be the proceduralist and our residency trains us to be that and so much more.
As for Corpus Christi, you can’t beat having the warm weather, palm trees and beaches right outside of the hospital. My family and I like trying a new beach spot every chance we get. If you’re into board sports like me, there are never-ending spots to surf, longboard, kite-board, wind-surf, etc.
Regardless of where you end up for residency, I want to congratulate you for choosing emergency medicine and wish you the best of luck in your future career. Please feel free to reach out to me or any of the residents here at CHRISTUS Spohn for any questions you may have about our program.