Hometown: Nixa, Missouri
Bio: From a smaller town in southwest Missouri, I never anticipated moving over 12 hours away from home, but moving to South Bend to complete my Biology degree at Notre Dame is how South Bend became my home away from home. I spent two years after working as an anesthesia tech and surgical assistant at a hospital in Springfield, MO, which saved my sanity by giving me a break from studying and exams and provided a wonderful education in the day to day reality of working in healthcare and how all members of the healthcare team are essential to good patient care. (It also showed me that I probably wasn’t cut out for a career as a surgeon). I then attended medical school at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, which provided fantastic training in the Jesuit tradition, calling for students to care for the whole patient: mind, body and spirit. I always had an inkling I would be happiest going into family medicine, and my experiences at Creighton – working with wonderful family medicine mentors and caring for patients within the Omaha community in the primary care setting – made it an easy decision to go into family medicine
Why Memorial: When applying for residencies, it was a no-brainer for me to look at programs in South Bend, and the program at Memorial had everything I wanted in a residency and more. From the rigorous inpatient curriculum, strong community focus and sports medicine training, to the support provided by faculty and residents and the camaraderie evident within the program, I left my interview day excited by the prospect of potentially joining the Memorial family. And since joining the program, I’ve been blessed to work alongside the best, most supportive faculty and fellow residents every day. It’s not always been easy, but I’m incredibly thankful to be able to complete my training at Memorial
Clinical interests: general outpatient care, prenatal care and women’s health, adolescent health, sports medicine
Hobbies: Baking, trivia, working on any kind of puzzles, crosswords to jigsaws, watching any and every sport, playing softball, singing along to musical soundtracks (poorly)
Favorite quotes: “You never know what life will bring. Only what you bring to life.”
Favorite books: The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton; The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker; The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams; and any Stephen King novel
Favorite podcasts: Honestly, too many to list, but recent favorites include Off Menu with James Acaster and Ed Gamble, Finish It! and Hey Riddle Riddle
Favorite thing to do/place to go in South Bend/Mishawaka: My favorite place to be is sitting in the sunshine, on a bench, the far shore of St. Joseph’s Lake on Notre Dame’s campus
