Louisville Medicine Volume 68, Issue 1 | Page 40

DR. WHO MEMBER SPOTLIGHT DR. KANDIS ADKINS AUTHOR Kathryn Vance Preparing for this Dr. Who interview looked a little different this month. We’re not meeting in a coffee shop. Instead I’m sitting at my kitchen table (my new workfrom-home setup) and Dr. Kandis Adkins had to sneak off to a corner while her daughter napped in the next room. However, with balancing her career, teaching and raising her family, she is used to adapting to all curveballs thrown at her. Growing up just a few hours north of us in Indianapolis, Indiana, Dr. Adkins’ path to medicine was anything but direct. In fact, she never knew a doctor personally until she was an undergrad going the pharmacy route at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), where she began tutoring pre-med students in chemistry and calculus. They sparked her interest. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from FAMU in 2004 and then returned home to Indianapolis for medical school at Indiana University School of Medicine, which at the time was the only medical school in the state. “Indiana felt like it was a great place to learn medicine,” she said. “We had the opportunity to experience health and sickness in a huge variety of scenarios, serving different communities and different types of patients. We benefitted from the experience of physicians who had trained all over the country. I felt very fortunate to be there and I felt very nurtured and well taken care of.” She stayed in Indianapolis to complete a three-year residency in anesthesiology, even though that specialty was not originally anywhere on her radar. “We had so many wonderful professors – IU made you interested in everything. I went into med school thinking ‘I like kids, I’ll probably do pediatrics’ and then as I learned more, I became more interested in everything else,” she said. “It made choosing very difficult. Luckily, anesthesia was a required rotation at IU, which is not the case at many places, and it just fit immediately.” While working through her residency, she decided to further her training by completing an anesthesia critical care fellowship. “I did a trauma rotation, and while I liked the OR, I also liked managing the patient from head to toe in the days after the operation,” she said. “I had the opportunity to go to Duke, a powerhouse school for most specialties. A lot of thought leaders from around the world have spent time at Duke. I was able to complete a fellowship there with a lot of great co-fellows and amazing attendings. I learned a ton, and I had a great experience. I worked very hard, but I had a great experience.” Before leaving for Duke, however, she met her future husband, Donnie, while he was working in supply chain procurement for the IU School of Medicine. Since she had already committed to Duke, the couple dated long-distance for a year before eventually moving back to Louisville together in July 2013. Through a chain of colleagues, Dr. Adkins was presented with an opportunity to help start an ICU program at Jewish Hospital specifically for cardiac surgery patients. “It was a little daunting to think about because I hadn’t planned on doing cardiac surgery ICU,” she said, explaining that while the ICU care was happening at the time, it wasn’t an organized program. Having someone in the unit to manage patients has been proven beneficial at multiple institutions, and she knew that she wanted to be a part of bringing it to Jewish. “When we came, we were the first intensivists for the cardiac surgery program,” she said. “I work with a great group of people; 38 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE