Louisville Medicine Volume 66, Issue 5 | Página 40

MEMBERS
DR. Who
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
SMITHA BULLOCK MD
Aaron Burch
A
s the daughter of an engineer and a nurse, perhaps it
was inevitable that Dr. Smitha Bullock would find her
calling in cardiology. The intersection of medicine and
physics compelled her interests. However, Dr. Bullock’s
drive to become a successful pediatric cardiologist has
been entirely her own. Those goals became reality on her terms, and
Louisville became her home in the process.
Dr. Bullock was born in northern India and her family moved
often before immigrating to America as she turned four. Her oldest
memories are mostly in fleeting glimpses, but a few things are cer-
tain. Fascinated by school from a very young age, a two-year-old Dr.
Bullock once famously complained that her older brother, Santosh,
was able to go to school while she was still too young.
In India, the age for children to begin attending school is as
young as three. Luckily then, Dr. Bullock wouldn’t have had to wait
long. She began school but was soon whisked away to the hustle and
bustle of New York City in the late 1980s. When a nursing shortage
in America led Dr. Bullock’s mother, Aleyanna Philip, to apply for
a visa and move to the states, the rest of the family followed close
behind.
“I remember that separation from my mother, because I have a
few early memories of only my brother and dad,” Dr. Bullock said.
“That separation was traumatic, but fortunately brief. I remember
finally seeing my mother again from a taxi in New York and feeling
that rush of recognition.”
When she and the rest of her family arrived in New York, they
joined her mother in a Queens apartment. In Dr. Bullock’s words,
“It was classic Queens. Fire hydrants blowing water in the summer
time. Kids running around. But, we soon moved out of the city to
Rockland County, north of Manhattan.”
Suburban childhood followed, as did a new younger brother.
Summers were spent riding bikes and playing pick-up games with
friends and family. Indoors, Dr. Bullock found she had a love of
classic literature and New York hip-hop. Medicine wasn’t a primary
focus, merely a possibility. During high school, an opportunity to
38
LOUISVILLE MEDICINE
shadow a local pediatrician arose. This experience provided the
first substantial step along the road towards a career in medicine.
“Almost every single doctor I met as a child had said in one way
or another, ‘Don’t go into medicine.’ I wanted to try and do it, in part
because they were telling me I shouldn’t,” Dr. Bullock explained.
“This pediatrician was different. She was very encouraging. She was
a mom. She had a family. She was humble. She had a lot of admirable
characteristics and provided a good balance to all the other voices.
Seeing her interactions, being in that environment, it made me feel
like this was something I wanted to do.”
With interest secured, it was time for higher learning. As a
student at George Washington University in the District of Co-
lumbia for her undergraduate studies, Dr. Bullock applied for, and
was awarded, early acceptance into the university’s medical school
during her sophomore year. This gave her approximately two years
to pursue any line of study she wished.
“Once I knew medical school was set, I did everything I could
to make the most of my undergraduate years. There were so many
opportunities in front of me. I majored in Japanese language and
literature with minors in biology and journalism. During my studies,
I interned at a Japanese newspaper three times a week. Early accep-
tance medical students were encouraged to pursue all interesting
lines of study before medical school began, and I definitely took
advantage of that time,” she reminisced.
In fact, Dr. Bullock’s exposure to different subjects was so trans-
formative that, when it came time to attend medical school, narrow-
ing her interest to the required courses proved difficult. “Undergrad
was so broad and diverse,” Dr. Bullock explained. “Once I arrived
in medical school, it was the opposite. All the studies were fixed.
Everyone had to do the same thing, and it was competitive in a
particular way. This all influenced how I coped with the transition.”
Although the transition was abrupt, Dr. Bullock was driven to
continue by the passion she found for pediatrics and the cardiology
subspecialty. “Pediatric cardiology felt like the best combination of
my skills and interests,” Dr. Bullock explained. “I enjoy thinking