What is your hometown?

I was actually born in CA, but lived all over and landed in Cedar Rapids for high school. I was in Iowa City for undergrad and medical school and then returned in ’97, so I guess the Iowa City area, as it’s the place I’ve lived for the most years.

When did you join the UI faculty?

I returned to Iowa to open and staff an outreach clinic in North Liberty in ’97, and began working as an associate to the Department of Family Medicine.
I joined the faculty formally in 2000.

How/when did you become interested in science and medicine?

I’ve always been curious about the why and how of things in nature and with people and recognized my interests could be channeled into medicine when I was about 16.

What interested you to pursue a career in family medicine?

I’ve always been interested in the big picture, and also truly enjoy the privilege of sharing peoples’ lives, so there has never been any doubt that I would want to be a Family Physician. Growing up, I felt that to be a “real” doctor one had to be able to take care of the whole person, through out their life, and in the context of their family and community.

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

My high school biology teacher challenged me academically and gave me the confidence to believe I could master the skills necessary to be an MD.

How or why did you choose the UI?

The university has been part of my life since I returned to college to complete an undergrad degree as a newly married person. The combination of a great academic school, with affordability, and a good place to live, made the decision to stay a “no brainer”, for both myself and my husband.

And even though we had migrated to southern CA, when the opportunity arose to return to the Iowa City area to open a new clinic and teach, we jumped.

What kinds of professional opportunities or advantages does being a faculty member at Iowa provide? What about challenges?

Being part of the College of Medicine has allowed me to grow tremendously, from a good clinician in Family Medicine to hopefully a good teacher for residents and medical students. I have been given opportunities to learn how to teach, as well as tapping my creativity for residency curriculum design. Working with both residents and medical students “keeps me fresh” in my practice of medicine, reminding why I became a doctor in different ways than my patient care. My interactions with faculty both within and outside the College of Medicine are always intellectually stimulating, and have given me many opportunities to be mentored. The biggest challenge is just keeping up with all that is going on and deserves attention.

Please describe your professional interests.

I do practice the complete scope of Family Medicine, but my areas of special interest are Adolescent and Women’s Healthcare, along with developing new paradigms for the teaching of Family Medicine residents.

Helping to improve the healthcare of an adolescent can make the most impact on preventing future morbidity for both the individual and a population. And besides, they are just fun to work with! I pride myself on being only one of a few who focus on this unique population and the only board certified adolescent specialist in eastern Iowa.

I also enjoy teaching about issues in women’s health and GYN office procedures to our residents. Thirdly, I am heavily involved in my role as Associate Residency Director in residency curriculum design and administration.

What are some of your outside interests?

My family of course; I have two daughters ages 13 and almost 20 (yes, she’s a sophomore at UI, not in pre-med, but pre-law), and a husband of 27 years (yes, we married young, as undergrads, and no, he is not a doctor, but an MBA).
Reading and writing; I’m an amateur history buff. Skiing and golfing, when I have the time—I’m a fair downhill skier, but an atrocious golfer who still has fun.

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

That what I do as a doctor is more of a calling than a profession, and that I have been endowed by both society and my patients with a sacred trust, and that each day I do my best to uphold it.

If you could change one thing about the world (or the world of medicine), what would it be?

Everyone would have Universal Access to health care.
Access to medical care would not be dependent on employment (we are truly the only developed country that does this). There would be neighborhood clinics where everyone would have the right to establish a relationship with the primary care provider of there choice, and health information would be portable, as most of our population is quite mobile. We have many good examples of how this could work from other countries, and also within our own country as seen in Medicare (almost universal access for those over 65), and in the VA system with their national EMR. (Electronic Medical Records), so we are not so far from making this a reality.

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

Information access: students and patients have easy access to all sorts of medical information. The challenge of course lies in keeping up and processing it all. The half-life of medical knowledge was about 7 years when I graduated residency, and I believe I read somewhere that it is now only 3-4 years.

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

Carpe diem!—and ENJOY it! Never say never, and always be open to change.
I could not have predicted my course when I left medical school, and would not change a thing!

What do you see as "the future" of medicine?

In spite of all the technology, we must still maintain the personal touch. The one–to-one patient-to-physician relationship be preserved.

In what ways are you engaged with the greater Iowa public?

I volunteer at the Iowa City Free Medical Clinic, and am a board member.
I am a member of the UI Faculty Senate. I have spoken, and will speak this year, to groups of Family Physicians and residents outside the College of Medicine about adolescent issues and the teaching of chronic disease care.