May 23, 2007

What is your hometown?

Kearney, Nebraska

When did you join the UI faculty?

1999

How/when did you become interested in medicine?

I thought medical ethics was intriguing, and decided that becoming a physician was a superb way to explore my passion for the philosophy of medicine.

What interested you to pursue a career in Psychiatry?

The interplay of neuroscience and narrative in my patients’ experiences is challenging intellectually and ethically; the connection of those medical puzzles with the joys and sufferings of real people means that psychiatric care is never trivial.

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

Over dinner table dialogue, my parents taught their 8 children that respectful debate is not only great fun, but is a strategy par excellence for seeking truth and building community.

How or why did you choose the UI?

A shout-out goes to the bright, inquisitive, supportive, gracious and talented girlfriends from all over campus who tickle my funny bone and keep me on my intellectual toes. 

Please describe your professional interests.

My scholarship and teaching is in the Philosophy and Ethics of Medicine, in collaboration with faculty in the Departments of Religious Studies and Philosophy.   My clinical work is increasingly focused on the psychiatric and integrative care of cancer survivors.

What are some of your outside interests?

Beautiful things and places sustain me; I spend much of my free time nurturing that aesthetic sensibility in the company of my loving husband and sons.

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

“. . . it is those who have a deep and real inner life who are best able to deal with the irritating details of outer life.” --Evelyn Underhill

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

Students have an unprecedented voice for refining and reforming the mission of medicine.

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

Physicians who fail to attend to their own physical, emotional, relational and spiritual needs will be impeded in their capacity to care for their patients.  Self-care is a hallmark of professionalism.