and questioned whether we had made the right decision. I remember going into
Dr. Livingston’s office trying to find answers. Although she could not reassure us
that everything was fine, her tears confirmed that we were in this together and
somehow we would persevere together. She was right.
Our medical school had numerous excellent professors. We were lucky to
learn from so many gifted people. Being a member of the curriculum committee
was also an excellent experience. I was able to sit in with some of the brightest
minds in our program and help give feedback and advice on how to improve our
curriculum. Being able to work one on one with physicians during our clinical
years was an amazing opportunity. I can still remember several clinical pearls that
I learned during those rotations that I still use to this day.
I am proud to say that I’m still working to accomplish the mission of FSU’s
College of Medicine. I work with Dedicated Senior Care in Jacksonville. We provide
primary care to seniors in the underserved areas of Jacksonville. We provide
value-based care and take pride in reducing unnecessary ER visits and hospitalizations.
My patients have access to my cell phone number. I call and text back
and forth with patients and families to build close relationships. Patients call me
when they get sick in order to be seen as a walk-in that day. They learn that they
can trust me when they’re sick instead of seeing a stranger in an emergency room
when they’re in need.
We also take pride in minimizing the number of referrals in order to decrease
confusion from multiple specialists prescribing medications without discussing
the case with each other. Although I didn’t understand the importance of
what FSU was doing when I was a medical student, I now understand that
improving the front lines of primary care is the solution to improving our
health care system overall. •
80 | Breaking the Mold