What is your hometown?
Iowa City
When did you join the University of Iowa faculty?
1990
How/when did you become interested in science and medicine?
I’ve always been interested in science; we live in a fascinating world. I became interested in medicine while in college and working part-time as a hemodialysis technician. I was attracted by the possibility of helping others by being clever and caring.
What interested you to pursue a career in Family Medicine?
As a hemodialysis technician I treated many people that had failed kidneys simply because they had not had good medical care for hypertension or diabetes. It struck me that we needed more primary care physicians. So I accepted the challenge.
Is there a teacher or mentor who helped shape your career?
I learned a great deal working beside Dr. Dan O’Connell for four years in Ketchikan, Alaska. He taught me that medicine is a very challenging profession. It takes great time, effort and commitment and even though you may try your best you will still make mistakes. He stressed that these difficult experiences should always become learning experiences. When physicians stop learning they become dangerous.
How or why did you choose the University of Iowa?
I was very interested in trying academic medicine and in living in Iowa City. Thus, my choice of joining the faculty!
Please describe your professional interests.
Providing excellent primary care, both directly and by helping learners acquire the skills, knowledge and attitudes to excel in patient care.
What led to your interest in psychiatry within primary care, and how does working in a collaborative and comprehensive academic medical center benefit this research?
People are complex and it does not serve us well to compartmentalize our mental and physical health needs. Because we have a culture of collaboration here at the University of Iowa, we are able to create innovative training programs. One example is the combined Family Medicine/Psychiatry residency program. This program trains physicians who can expertly provide medical and psychiatric care to their patients. These residents have taught me a great deal, which helps me care for my patients. I am continuously impressed by the skills of our graduates.
Please describe your role in medical education at the University of Iowa.
I work with the Performance Based Assessment Program. Our charge is to help the UI Carver College of Medicine to assess the clinical and communication skills of its students. We also work very hard to make our testing sessions educationally beneficial to students by providing them with feedback about their strengths and weaknesses. This feedback allows the students to focus on certain areas which need additional work.
Do you have an insight or philosophy that guides you in your professional work?
Every patient is a unique person and all people have their own unique needs, hopes, and fears.
If you could change one thing about the world (or the world of medicine), what would it be?
We should all remember that we are only temporary passengers on this planet, so we should attend to each other and our world better.
What is the biggest change you've experienced in your field since you were a student?
The compression of time-we are constantly expected to do more in less time.
What one piece of advice would you give to today's students?
When selecting a career, make sure that your profession allows you to help people and provides you with a broad range of challenges. At the end of your career you will want to look back and see that you have used your professional time wisely.
What do you see as "the future" of medicine?
Better coordination of care, better access to care and more emphasis on primary care.
What are some of your outside interests?
I enjoy learning a great deal. Right now I am learning to read Arabic.
In what ways are you engaged with the greater Iowa public (i.e. population based research, mentoring high school students, sharing your leadership/expertise with organizations or causes, speaking engagements off campus, etc.)?
I work with different community organizations seeking to improve the health care of Iowans. It has been very rewarding to serve on these boards and work with others with the same goals.