Medical School: Texas Tech University School of Medicine - Amarillo
Hey everyone! I’m Melissa, more commonly known as Ponder or Ponderosa. I was born and raised just outside of Houston in (what used to be a small town) Katy, TX. I grew up playing tennis since I was 5 or 6 and continued to play through college at Trinity University in San Antonio. While at Trinity, I earned my degree in neuroscience and also spent a semester studying abroad in Auckland, New Zealand. I took a year off after college to work before attending medical school at Texas Tech in Lubbock and Amarillo. In med school, I played less tennis and more crossfit and volleyball/softball intramurals, became interested in global health after working in free clinics in Nicaragua, and took an awesome month-long backpacking trip to a bunch of national parks during 4th year. I took a brief detour as a general surgery intern at Texas Tech before I found myself at home in the emergency department in Corpus Christi. In my free time, I still enjoy playing tennis, working out, camping and hiking, traveling, and spending time with my wolf pack—I have two huskies: Dakota and new puppy Juniper.
Christus EM initially stood out to me when I rotated here as a student. The residents seemed smart, competent, and I was impressed that even the interns appeared confident taking care of anyone or anything that came through the department. The patients were all high acuity and there was a lot of great pathology. I was also able to gain a lot of procedural experience, as the residents had no problems letting me do procedures since they had done so many already. It was fun to watch all the residents and attendings joking and having fun together while at work. Some faculty even became great mentors to me as well while I was still a student when they didn’t have to, which I believe speaks volumes to the support we receive here. I would highly recommend rotating here as a medical student—it will be an invaluable learning experience for you.
As a resident now, I feel incredibly thankful and lucky to be here. Without a doubt, I know I will receive the best training and be capable for caring for any type of patient and be comfortable with the sick and crashing patient as an attending. All our patients are sick, we have a ton of autonomy, and we take responsibility for the sickest patients from day one. We are an unopposed residency, which I never truly realized how valuable this is until actually experiencing it. We run all the traumas, take all the airways, put in all the lines, do our own splinting if we want…. Speaking with friends who are residents from other EM programs, I had more procedures the first couple months of residency than they had after their entire first year. Residency is hard, but our residents are happy. Our program is like a family and are a great support system for each other. We can always find time to hang out together (including with our attendings and ER nurses). Corpus Christi is also an easy place to live, and it doesn’t hurt to have a beach nearby and sunshine all year long!