I grew up in perennially sunny Southern California. I attended UCLA and graduated with a B.S. in Neuroscience. My goal the entire time was medical school to become a pediatrician. I had never lived anywhere besides SoCal and my travel was limited to crazy cross country motor home trips with my parents and three siblings. Therefore I decided to go to Dartmouth for medical school. I could think of no place farther or more different than UCLA and I (initially) was super excited at the prospect of living in the snow. I loved my time at Dartmouth. Having a snowboard slope 15 minutes from school was my saving grace! I graduated in 2002. I spent several years in the military as a general medical officer on a ship out of Norfolk, VA. It was here that I fell in love with emergency medicine (and travelling the world). There is nothing quite like super loud scary bells ringing in the middle of the night while you are out to sea and hearing the PA system crackle... "medical emergency medical emergency." Then quickly having to dress and sprint through the ship in the dark to find an obscure hatch that leads down an impossibly narrow ladder well to whatever medical issue awaits...it is exhilarating and scary all at the same time.
I have a passion for both pediatrics and emergency medicine so the combined program seemed ideal for me. I chose University of Maryland for many reasons including the incredible faculty, getting to work and train in Shock Trauma, and the overwhelming urge to experience the world famous Maryland crab cakes! Licving in Baltimore has been a blast...the inner harbor is fantastic and the many diverse communities/neighborhoods provide a never-ending supply of adventures. But the best thing by far are the other residents from my co-interns to the amazing senior residents we have.
Please feel free to email me or call with any and all questions or concerns that you may have because trust me...we ALL had the SAME questions!
