What is your hometown?
Lenexa, Kansas
How or when did you become interested in science and medicine?
Honestly, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love science. Growing up, I spent a great deal of time tinkering and trying to figure out how things work. Some of my earliest memories include growing crystals in my mom’s Tupperware, building a solar cooker on the front step and taking apart anything I could get my hands on.
My interest in medicine didn’t come about until middle school, though, when someone in my first hour class suggested that I become a doctor. I had never even thought about it before, but suddenly, that seemed like a great idea. Within a few months, I had started volunteering at the Patient Information Desk of the local hospital, and from then on, I was hooked. Unless you count the day of my second biochem test M1 year, I haven’t looked back since!
How or why did you choose the UI to attend medical school?
As someone who grew up in Kansas City, I knew that I loved the Midwest. I enjoy the people here, and I wanted to stay somewhere relatively close to home. More important, though, was the reputation of the school, its emphasis on community, and the collaborative spirit that exists here. I was very lucky to go to a college that fostered community, life-long learning and service. I was determined to go to a medical school that did the same. When I visited Iowa, I felt that we were a good match.There are plenty of opportunities here for academic excellence, yet the College of Medicine also works to foster concern for the patient, professionalism, and community service. These are qualities that I respect and that I hope to foster during my time here at Iowa.
Is there a teacher, mentor or Carver College of Medicine faculty member who has helped shape your education?
Ginnie Woodard was my guardian angel during M1 year. She has an amazing gift to see who needs to talk and who needs a good dose of reality. Many times during that first year, Ginnie gave me the perspective that is so hard to find during the first year of medical school.
Outside of the College, I have been fortunate enough to have two amazing mentors; Dr. Warren McGuire is a superbly conscientious physician as well as a true life-long learner. After my M1 year, Dr. McGuire invited me to work with him in his radiation oncology clinic for nine weeks in St. Paul, Minnesota. Dr. McGuire truly respects and enjoys his patients. He treats his patients like family and that has played a fundamental role in my attitude towards the physician-patient relationship. Sister Maria Ruth, on the other hand, is a nun who I had the joy of meeting several years ago. She isn’t a doctor, and yet, she could teach us all something about being “present” to others. Put simply, she reveals the possible in the impossible.
What kinds of opportunities or advantages does being a medical student at Iowa provide? What about challenges?
If there’s anything that the people at Iowa focus on, it’s opportunities. Students here have access to a world-class medical center with outstanding faculty and clinical mentors. You have the ability to voice your opinion early on, knowing that your suggestions will be taken seriously. There’s an emphasis on small group and evidence-based practice. The faculty members are truly interested in your success and well-being. There are over 100 student organizations, many on-site resources, and staff members who are probably far-and-away too educated for their jobs! Best of all, our patients are usually delighted to be a part of our education.
As for challenges, the biggest challenge is probably that we all get spoiled here! Not every hospital has the resources or advanced care that you will find at Iowa.
Please describe your professional goals and interests.
As of yet, I haven’t chosen a specialty. I know that I want to go into a patient-focused field with opportunities for continuity of care and procedures, but beyond that, most of the doors are open. Oncology, geriatrics, palliative care and internal medicine are all options. In general, though, I hope to become the best advocate for my patients that I can be.
On a separate note, I would love to teach someday. As the daughter of two career teachers, I have grown up learning material by thinking of how I would make it accessible to someone else. I have so much respect for the teaching profession and those professors who have invested their time in me. Someday, I hope to return the favor by passing on some of that knowledge.
What are some of your outside interests?
Until I entered medical school, I was highly involved in instrumental music. I have played the clarinet for 14 years and miss playing in a band tremendously! In college and high school, I played in band, orchestra, small ensembles and pit for the school musicals. I still play on my own occasionally, but I would love to get involved with an ensemble again. If anyone needs a clarinetist, let me know!
Besides music, my other love is advocacy work on behalf of women and cultural minorities. In college, I taught cultural sensitivity training and attended nearly every “cultural” event on campus. I haven't had quite as much time for that here, but I've still been involved in the Domestic Violence Intervention Program, Medical Students for Choice, the Vagina Monologues, MEDIQS, etc.
Do you participate in any community service/outreach projects? If so, what are they and what have your experiences been?
Last year, I was the philanthropy chair for the McCowen learning community. This was a huge and challenging job, but it was also the most satisfying experience I’ve had here at Iowa. In this position, I organized all community service events for the McCowen community, including the Mr. Iowa Medicine Pageant, the Adopt-a-Family project, and the 2006 DVIP Bench Press Event, which raised almost $4000 for the Domestic Violence Intervention Program in town.
Do you have an insight or philosophy that guides you in your work?
If anything is worth doing, it's worth doing well and with your whole heart. Treat people with respect – even, and especially, if you don’t agree with them. Remember to treat yourself with respect as well. You can’t learn without making mistakes. Act humbly. Remember to take risks once in awhile - the most powerful experiences are often the ones that terrify us the most. Finally, don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it.
If you could change one thing about the world (or the world of medicine), what would it be?
Access to care. During my family medicine clerkship this year I spent a month in a very small, economically depressed town in Southern Iowa, and it broke my heart to make healthcare decisions based on financial resources. During this time, one of my patients said to me, “Doctors are a luxury here.” I can’t reconcile that idea with my sense of what’s right in the world. No one should have to sacrifice their health simply because of their income.
What one piece of advice you would give to students who are interested in applying to medical school?
Dig down and find out exactly why you’re interested in medicine. Regardless of the personal statement or the interview, why do you want to spend the rest of your life working in medicine? If the answer is money or family expectations or indecision, take some time and think things over. Medicine is a choice that you make with your heart – not with your mind. Medical school is far too long, hard, tiring, and expensive to do it for any reason other than the fact that you couldn’t see yourself anywhere else. To be a happy medical student/resident/physician, your heart needs to say “Yes!!” to the question, “Is medicine right for me?”
Once you find your reason, write it down. Frame it. Write yourself a letter explaining exactly why you’re doing this. Then, when you’re exhausted at 3am after studying all day, look back at that reason. That will sustain you and remind you that you’re going into a wonderful profession - one that you chose with your heart.
What do you see as "the future" of medicine?
I see medicine evolving towards greater and greater respect for patient autonomy and the involvement of the patient in their own care. We’ve seen this already with the advent of HIPAA and the movement of physicians away from traditional paternalism. I think there’s a resurgence of interest in the physician as a healer – both due to patient demand and as the physician’s way of rebelling against the constraints of managed healthcare. People are getting frustrated with rushed, money-driven, capitalistic healthcare. In the future, I think we’ll see further attempts to personalize medicine and regain the familiarity that the public once associated with their family doctor.