MEET LOCAL LEGENDS: By Medical Specialty

"Emergency medicine is a real challenge. Each patient is different; each patient comes in with problems that require a quick and accurate diagnosis. I love that challenge."

"From an early age I have always been fascinated trying to understand how body systems interact. In second grade, for instance, I was doing experiments in building heart muscles and my mother and neighbors taught me about dissection. In seventh grade I knew I wanted to be an endocrinologist, especially after an experiment in which I increased the fertility of mice ten-fold by changing their endocrines."

"As a child, I discovered the world of medicine through reading. “Chirpas,” a book in Spanish, first piqued my interest. The main character was a young doctor in the most rural and poor communities of Mexico. I was 10 but too shy to share my newfound passion with my parents, siblings or friends. I did not feel "smart enough" and did not know anyone that practiced medicine, nor was I ever encouraged by anyone. Growing up, my family did not have health care and paid for services out–of–pocket and only in emergencies. In high school a core of friends also had an interest in medicine, but I always kept my desire secret. However, my interest was always in helping people help themselves and after college, I spent two years administering a social service program. These two years gave me the experience, maturity and courage to go to medical school, where I soon discovered my niche—public health!"

"I was an English major in college, but between my junior and senior years in college, I worked with Dr. Vernon Mountcastle, an eminent pioneering neurologist at Johns Hopkins University and found it fascinating. Although I had intended to enter teaching, my husband-to-be convinced me to go to medical school."

"Helping medical students gain competency and experience and become good doctors working with real patients is one of the best rewards I know."

"I knew from the age of two, when I learned to talk, that someday I would become a doctor…"

"My personal mission is to help provide more physicians for rural communities. We are trying to build a medical school that will produce compassionate, caring doctors who want to work in rural areas."