Luckily , her first rotations were outpatient and inpatient primary care , so she was able to ease into it .
“ I knew what an office was , but beyond that , I had never been in an operating room , written notes , examined a patient . I had to learn a lot of social skills that I ’ d never had before . It ’ s a whole language . You have to communicate with people , but not necessarily tell them all your thoughts .”
In the second part of third year , she did a surgery rotation and knew almost instantly that she loved the hands-on , physical aspects . It wasn ’ t until her fourth year though , when she did an orthopedic surgery rotation , that she knew this was her true calling . Yet another challenge to take on , the gender disparity in orthopedics : the 2018 report from the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons showed that only 7.6 % of their members were women .
“ I just realized how much I liked bones and joints . I really like the mechanical aspects of it and using those math and science skills . Someone once explained it to me like , ‘ Orthopedics is the closest to sports , in that it ’ s the best specialty if you want to win .’ Of course a lot of times you ’ re treating athletes , but also if you have a broken femur and you fix it and it heals , you win . A lot of stuff in medicine , you manage it , but you don ’ t get the win or the cure – but with bones , you can actually win .”
She and Darren , her husband by then , moved to Chicago for a year for a general surgery internship at Rush University Medical Center . While great , it was an intense year , and Darren jokes with her that he doesn ’ t know why she speaks so highly of the city when
( photos left to right ) Dr . Brey and Darren at Western High School , September 2024 ; Dr . Brey ( far left ) and her teammates in the water in Cape Gris Nez , France , after swimming from England .
she barely ever saw it with just 10 days off the whole year . Before they knew it , they were headed to Philadelphia for a five-year orthopedics residency at Drexel University College of Medicine . While her classmates spent their first year doing general surgery training , her year in Chicago was put to good use .
“ I actually got to be an extra resident on the sports rotation and that ’ s where I picked up a bunch of arthroscopy skills that most of my class never got . It was a really cool silver lining . Most interns couldn ’ t say that they did 100 arthroscopies , but I did .”
Coming into medical school , she ’ d considered something in pediatrics , so when she fell in love with orthopedics , she knew she ’ d combine those passions . After finishing in Philadelphia , she did a final training year of pediatric orthopedic fellowship at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine in Memphis .
“ Peds just kind of clicked for me , but I would not have felt comfortable doing this job without a full additional year . I like treating children ’ s fractures , I like how they heal , and I like kids in general . A lot of people don ’ t like pediatrics because of working with parents , but that doesn ’ t bother me . It ’ s one of those things where you learn how to talk to people , and how to balance what the parents want ( continued on page 36 ) October 2024 35