Q: What is your biggest professional challenge?
A: Continuing to provide better and safer patient care with diminishing resources.
Q: What is your biggest professional reward?
A: Making a difference in the lives of patients. It is very rewarding to me to be able to come into a hospital and put processes in place, then actually see the risk-adjusted mortality rates improve. One of my teams’ biggest wins was taking over an HM program in a hospital with a mortality rate of 4, and seeing that mortality rate cut literally in half within six months.
Q: When you aren’t working, what is important to you?
A: My husband and children are the most important aspect of my life. My husband is a gastroenterologist; we have been married for 13 years. We have two healthy, happy kiddos ages 8 and 10.
Q: What’s next professionally? Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
A: I am partnering with two orthopedic surgeons in a startup company, Synergy Surgicalists. Our company mirrors the hospitalist model utilizing general and orthopedic surgeons. It’s very exciting to have the opportunity to bring value to hospitals and patients on a larger scale. Also, for the immediate future, I have accepted the role of interim executive medical director for hospital medicine for University of Texas Southwestern and Parkland hospitals. We are completely restructuring those programs in preparation for moving into two beautiful new (and very large) hospitals. I’m very excited about working with a truly excellent group of physicians and leaders while we are recruiting a permanent executive director and expanding our ranks.
Q: If you weren’t a doctor, what would you be doing right now?
A: I cannot imagine not being a physician. I suppose if pressed, I imagine I would have landed somewhere in the financial industry. I am also a musician, but have a hard time seeing myself employed in that industry.
Q: What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
A: “Widow Walk” by Gerard LaSalle. He is a physician author who pens a beautiful story. It’s just an enjoyable read of American historical fiction set in the Pacific Northwest.
Q: How many Apple products do you interface with in a given week?
A: Sadly, I interface with 11 (11!) different Apple products in any given week. (Even sadder: I just came into an iPod Shuffle, so I’m up to 12 … )
Q: What’s next in your Netflix queue?
A: “Fringe,” Season 2, Episode 19.
Richard Quinn is a freelance writer in New Jersey.