Page 11 - 2019 MPMA Summer Profiles

You are coming out of your world of Now that you are finishing up your
academia; you are in your practical residency and if you could go back and
training right now and you know or think about ‘What would you like to tell
have a day-to-day knowledge of what new student podiatrist just entering
it’s like to be a podiatric physician. their residency’, what would you like to
What are you most excited about? tell them? Comparing what you thought

“I am most excited about using the hands-on it would be and what it was?
knowledge that I have gained throughout my training in “Just be ready to hit the ground running, and it is so
residency and implementing it in real practice.” much better than the classroom!”

If you were to pick out the top I knew it was going to be challenging but residency is
two advances, what are you most what you make of it. If you are eager and willing to learn
what you can in the three years of training, you learn to
excited about?
make the most of it.
“One advance that I am excited about is the Going through it all, you get thicker skin. You
prevalence of females in this field. For so many years, become a stronger person than you thought you ever
podiatry has been a male-driven career. Seeing more were.”
women in medicine now is very encouraging.”
What’s happening during that
What about setting up your practice. residency that makes you get
What is the blank spot you just don’t thicker skin?
know? Is there a moment where it’s
scary to go into practice? “The most challenging thing for me during residency
was trying to be the best at what I did and constantly
“My decision right now is either joining a multi- comparing myself to other residents. You also work with
specialty group or just joining a practice that I could one so many different personalities that you eventually learn
day own myself. No blank spots, just trying to decide how to adapt and not take things so personal. We are
which setting will be the best for me.” all here to learn as much as we can.”

Once you get your practice, what are When in your residency, do you find
you most excited about? that some patients just don’t want help?
“I am most excited about further building my Was there something about patients
professional career once I come out of residency. I’m that surprised you?
eager to use the knowledge I have gained from residency
and use it in my practice. I am also excited to form new “I have always been a sensitive person so when I
relationships with other physicians and patients.” started seeing patients in the hospital that were not in
the best of mood, I would take that very personally. I
Let’s talk about the Google factor. Do didn’t think I was helping them how I wanted to. I have
you think patients Google too much definitely learned to not take everything so personally
and self-diagnose? because I realized that they have issues they are dealing
with, and it is not about me directly.” t
“Technology is so advanced these days, you can look
up anything on Google. I see people all the time self-
diagnosing themselves, even I do it sometimes!”

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