What is your hometown?

Urbandale, Iowa

When did you join the UI faculty?

July, 2004

How/when did you become interested in science and medicine?

My father is a pharmacology and toxicology professor and his science influences sparked the interest when I was young.

What interested you to pursue a career in medicine?

During college, I obtained a job in a Des Moines Emergency Department to see if I truly wanted a career in medicine. That position not only guided my career decision but also the field I wanted to pursue.

Is there a teacher or mentor who helped shape your career?

Dr. Glenn Hamilton at Wright State University, Dr. Robert Knopp at Regions Hospital, and Dr. Timothy Gutshall at Iowa Methodist Medical Center have all been instrumental in shaping my career.

How or why did you choose the UI?

Iowa is home. I wanted to be a part of the growth, development, and promotion of Emergency Medicine in our state.

What kinds of professional opportunities or advantages does being a faculty member at Iowa provide? What about challenges?

At the UI, I’m able to work with and learn from internationally recognized leaders in medicine. It also provides an environment to foster my growth as a clinical researcher.

Please describe your professional interests.

Pre-hospital / ED resuscitation and airway management research, serving as a Flight Physician with our AirCare program, and using technology for medical education (i.e. Department of Emergency Medicine Podcast).

What are some of your outside interests?

Waterskiing (next up: wakeboarding)! Reading science and murder mystery fiction novels.

Do you have an insight or philosophy that guides you in your professional work?

To quote my residency director Dr. Felix Ankel, when I am faced with any quandary: “Just do the right thing.”

If you could change one thing about the world (or the world of medicine), what would it be?

Everyone would have timely, affordable and efficient healthcare.

What is the biggest change you've experienced in your field since you were a student?

Technology advances have made it easier for Emergency Medicine to provide quality outcomes in critical illness. Evidence based medicine has also allowed for efficient and timely care in the Emergency Department.

What one piece of advice you would give to today's students?

No matter what medical specialty you choose, you must be able to recognize and differentiate life threatening disease. Whether you work in an after hours clinic or in an intensive care setting, emergencies occur. It is critical that life-threatening differential diagnoses are at the forefront of your medical decision making.

And don’t forget, in medicine, you never stop being a student.

What do you see as "the future" of medicine?

Technology is the driver in not only immediate bedside patient care but for outreach and distance medicine. Interactive networks are being constructed to allow the tertiary care center to provide immediate online consultation and rapid transport for the most critically ill patients.

In what ways are you engaged with the greater Iowa public?

My primary engagement is in the prehospital arena serving as medical director for various EMS systems, organizations and as the university liaison to statewide EMS committees developing EMS policy.

AirCare affords me the opportunity to work with and meet referring physicians all over central and eastern Iowa. Doctors and providers outside of UIHC are not only critical to patient care, but to the University of Iowa. Solid customer service and team work with our referral base gives Iowan’s the best care at all times.