The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
What is your hometown?
West Jordan, Utah
How or when did you become interested in science and medicine?
I’ve always been interested in the life sciences and human biology. I remember being young and presenting theories to my parents about why people cough, or why urine is yellow. As a Boy Scout, my favorite merit badges were First Aid, Emergency Preparedness, and Medicine. Through college, experiences abroad, and in the workforce, I learned that interacting with people – hearing their stories and discussing their problems – was important to me, and a necessary component to my career choice. Medicine seemed like a natural way to combine my interest in science with my desire to work with people.
How or why did you choose the University of Iowa to attend medical school?
I applied to the University of Iowa because of the reputation it has nationally and because of experiences friends have had at medical school here. When I came to Iowa City for an interview, everything seemed to fit for me. The UI Carver College of Medicine is unique – few medical schools in the country can provide a nationally renowned teaching hospital, have excellent research funding, and provide a great lifestyle in a family friendly city. It was an easy decision.
Is there a teacher, mentor or University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine faculty member who has helped shape your education?
Dr. Lauris Kaldjian, Director of the Program in Biomedical Ethics and Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, has been an influential research and professional mentor. Drs. Lisa Antes, Brian Daniel, and Karl Thomas (01F-Internal Medicine) have been recent influences that have helped steer my professional interests. They have been examples of caring, professional, teaching physicians. Lastly, I owe Drs. Marcus Nashelsky, Shivanand Patil, and Chris Cooper (87BA, 91MD, 97R-Urology) my gratitude for believing that I was a good fit for the Carver College of Medicine.
What kinds of opportunities or advantages does being a medical student at Iowa provide? What about challenges?
If you don’t mind cold weather, the greatest advantage of coming to Iowa is the quality of life. As I stated previously, it’s hard to find a program that provides an excellent education, easy access to research and community service opportunities, and a top-tier teaching hospital all within a relatively small community. The UI Carver College of Medicine provides the best in all of these aspects. The clinical atmosphere is supportive, loyal, and protective of medical students.
Please describe your professional goals and interests?
Right now, my professional goals are to pursue a residency program in Internal Medicine at an academic medical center, with the possibility of fellowship at some point in the future. I enjoy teaching, and would like to continue sharing knowledge and experiences as my career in medicine develops. My research interests include clinical ethics, code status discussions, and goals of care in the context of end of life decisions. Another interest includes novel implementation of quality control and process improvement theory within hospital medicine. I also happen to think that the liver is a pretty cool organ.
What are some of your outside interests?
I enjoy spending time with my wife and son - whatever we do, we have a good time. We enjoy traveling, snorkeling, movies, music, television, board games, the Rocky Mountains and In-n-Out Burger. I’m also a techie geek – I love computers and anything remotely related to them.
Do you participate in any community service/outreach projects? If so, what are they and what have your experiences been?
I’m currently co-president of the medical student satellite Habitat for Humanity group. Our belief is that every man, woman, and child should have a simple, decent, affordable place to live in dignity and safety. Our group aims to help in this effort by organizing and participating in home building projects and fundraisers for the Iowa Valley Habitat for Humanity organization.
Do you have an insight or philosophy that guides you in your work?
If you could change one thing about the world (or the world of medicine), what would it be?
If I could change one thing right this instant, I would have all hospitals and clinics in the country use an electronic medical record system that follows industry standards and government regulations for security and portability. I believe, from admittedly brief and anecdotal experience, that the ever-climbing cost of health care in this country is related to fundamental problems in systems-based communication errors and lack of appropriately measured outcomes and reimbursement. Getting the nation’s hospitals into the 21st century with electronic medical records, I believe, would be a huge step in the right direction of addressing the first of these two core problems.
What one piece of advice would you give to students who are interested in applying to medical school?
My one piece of advice would be to research your interest well. If you think you are interested in applying to medical school take some time shadowing your local general medicine or family practice doctor. If you can, volunteer at a hospital and see what it’s like working with people who are chronically sick and in need of medical attention. Being a physician is much more than just implementing knowledge – doctors are both technicians and managers in a broad sense, so make sure you feel comfortable with the idea of working in both roles. Take some college science courses – particularly human physiology, and see if you enjoy it. If you do, contact your school’s premedical or pre-professional advisor for more help on planning your premedical work. And when you’ve decided that you want to go to medical school don’t let circumstances, environment, or individuals dissuade you.
What do you see as "the future" of medicine?
From a scientific standpoint, there are a lot of exciting possibilities coming in the future. One which I find interesting is the idea of pharmacogenetics – using a patient’s genetic profile to tailor drug therapies on an individual level. I also see gains in molecular biology leading to improved disease prevention, and I hope to soon see patient’s DNA being used to improve, for example, individual cancer screening. It’s an exciting time to be in medicine. If one thing is constant, it’s that medicine is always changing.