Alma mater: Rochester Institute of Technology, Class of 2015, Bachelors in Biomedical Sciences, General.
Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine - DO, Medicine, Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, 2021.
Field: Family Medicine
Other interests: Ballroom dancing; video games.
Why did you pick your college major? How did that help (or not) lead you to where you are now? I chose biomedical sciences because I enjoyed how much medical knowledge was involved. Gross anatomy was something I never thought I would have the opportunity to learn while in college. I had the honor of dissecting a human body as an undergraduate student. This helped me leaps and bounds when I was in medical school during our anatomy course. Additionally I was able to learn microbiology and pathophysiology. It was very helpful for solidifying my knowledge and allowed me to become a pathology tutor in medical school. Did your major change from first year to senior year? Why/how? Yes! In my first year, my major was biomedical engineering. I changed to biomedical sciences in my second year because I enjoyed the more direct medical applications compared to biomedical engineering. I did have some meaningful experiences in biomedical engineering where I was able to perform cell cultures. However, in biomedical sciences, this allowed a more direct path to become a physician as my interests changed from freshman to sophomore year. I no longer wanted to be the one who created the artificial heart or left ventricular assist device for my patient, I wanted to be the one who took care of them directly.
How have your career aspirations changed over the years? I did initially want to become the next innovator in artificial hearts, left ventricular assist devices, and other cardiac devices. However, this changed after my first year in college after realizing I no longer had interest in applying complicated mathematical processes and became more interested in direct interactions with people and medical research.
What is a misconception that you had as a student about your career and the professional world? One misconception that I had was that I could go straight from college into medical school. Don't get me wrong, this can happen, but it is rarer now. I had to apply to medical school twice before being accepted.
What are some roadblocks you have hit during your career? How did you get through them? I was rejected from my first round of medical school applications. However, I then steeled myself, retook the MCAT, worked in medical research for two years, shadowed more physicians, applied again and was accepted. It took 2 gap years before I was able to truly start my career in medicine.
What is your favorite thing about your job? Teaching the residents! Showing them new procedural techniques or ways to tackle difficult patient encounters and seeing them grow is extremely rewarding.
Any exciting projects you're currently working on and can share publicly? As of now I am primarily working on practice improvement projects such as increasing iron infusions for those with heart failure and increasing frequency of fluoride varnish applications in children. Last year I had a publication in the Journal of Osteopathic Medicine on common outpatient diagnoses and associated treatments logged by osteopathic medical students within a geriatric population.
What piece of advice would you give to your college/high school self? I would say to them to start studying for the MCAT earlier! Try to become involved in research while at school. Volunteer even more!
What is something you have learned about yourself since starting your career? Medicine is where I truly belong. I love my patients, my peers, the residents and all of the continual learning that the medical field has to offer. I am truly happy.
Tell us about a time you made yourself proud. I recently was able to diagnose a patient with a rare disorder and was able to finally tell them why this was happening to them. They were so happy. I am proud of myself because I am only able to do this because of the dedication I had during medical school and residency to learn all that I could and be able to use my resources appropriately to help my patients whenever I can.
Do you have a favorite quote or saying? You got this!
What hobbies/interests do you have outside of work? Tell us about them! Why are they your passions and how did you get involved? Ballroom dancing - my wife surprised me for our anniversary with a trial lesson while I was in residency and I loved it! It is a wonderful way to have fun together with my crazy schedule. Video games - I have always been a HUGE video game enthusiast. It is a great stress reducer and I enjoy the stories they create.