Medical School: Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine of Midwestern University
Undergraduate School : Arizona State University
Greetings from Corpus Christi!
I was born in Milford, Connecticut and spent much of my young life in the nearby town of New Haven. I spent a number of years in Oregon and Washington before my family and I settled down in Glendale, Arizona, a large suburb in Phoenix. I lived in the same five-mile radius of my middle school, high school, Arizona State University's West Campus, where I attended college and Midwestern University, where I attended medical school. I worked as a pharmacy technician, ER scribe and volunteered in various capacities just as close to home and I did nearly all my clinical rotations as an MSIII and MSIV in facilities I was very familiar with. Suffice it to say, I got to know my little suburban bubble very well and it wasn't long before I felt the need to see what else was out there.
I am grateful for all of the experiences that I have had, but my most invaluable experience was working as a scribe in some of the busiest emergency departments in Phoenix. It was there I learned what a joy it can be to care for someone and the pivotal role an emergency department and its staff plays within a community. While merely performing the charting for the providers in these EDs, I noticed a number of things including the different practice styles exhibited by the doctors and the way in which they cared for people. While each and every one, in my humble opinion, did a fantastic job of providing this care, I could only assume the differences lied in where these individuals trained. What I didn't immediately take stock of was the importance of the fact that these centers that I worked at were major centers with multiple residencies, fellowships, competing hospitalist groups, with facilities capable of managing strokes, caths, traumas -- you name it. A truly wonderful place to be an attending out of residency, having all the help in the world at your beck and call. But what about for a young, up-and-coming doctor looking to increase his or her fund of knowledge and maximize his or her capabilities? To be the best doctor he or she can be?
I then set my sights on a "good" residency and tried to define what that means. I quickly learned that residency is about growth and to grow in emergency medicine means to first have the opportunity to learn and to try, and then to actually try, demonstrate humility when you fail, have the courage to try again and to ultimately excel. No other residency will give you more opportunities to try than this one. The Texas A&M HSC - Christus Spohn Emergency Medicine Residency Program is housed in a Level II trauma center with only a Family Medicine residency in addition to ours, but there is no opposition felt and we are partners in providing care to the people of Corpus Christi. When it comes to learning, I have not experienced a more interactive didactics day than this institution's conference day each week prior to coming here. In addition to learning the fundamentals of emergency medicine, I walk away being offered a window into practice-changing concepts and being introduced to evidence-based medicine that will ultimately allow us to help people in better ways than ever before. At the time of writing at this present moment, I am an intern, and I believe I am in the company of thousands upon thousands of interns who have had the "opportunity" to stumble and learn from mistakes made. I have never felt alone during these moments here and the amount of support from my upper levels, my own peers, the wonderful staff at these facilities and faculty I call my educators has been enormous and I sincerely feel that I grow here every day. And what is truly remarkable about times like these is my desire to come back, to try again and to always have the hope to excel as an emergency physician.
Of course my interests are quite diverse, I enjoy the warm weather and all that it allows in the way of outdoorsy activities. A warm beach is new to me and I have thoroughly enjoyed it here thus far! I do enjoy blogging when I have the time, programming iOS applications, learning to cook and reading. But my newest passion is trying to be the best resident physician that I can be. If you are one that has a passion for emergency medicine, the desire to engage in a rigorous curriculum and learn with some of the kindest and most welcoming people you could ever meet, please come. You will love it here as I do.