that cannot be taught in a textbook: composure. She traces that ability back to both athletics and her parents.
“ I always have five backup plans in the back of my mind. I tell the residents all the time that if you don’ t stay calm nothing will go right,” she said. Her parents instilled that lesson long before she entered medicine.“ My mom and dad taught us since the day we were born: just take a breath and stay composed.”
During trauma cases and surgical emergencies, patients are not the only ones looking for reassurance. Surgeons, nurses, residents and anesthetists all take cues from one another.“ As anesthesiologists, we often set the tone in emergency cases,” she said.“ It’ s our responsibility to create an environment where they are not feeling anxious and overwhelmed so that they can perform the work that they are trained and knowledgeable to do.”
As much as she enjoys caring for patients, she is equally passionate about preparing future physicians. As an Assistant Professor in the UofL Department of Anesthesiology, she works with everyone from high
school students in the GEMS program to medical students, residents and fellows. Teaching has become one of the most rewarding parts of her career. Whether supervising procedures or discussing complex clinical decisions, she tries to teach more than technical skills. She teaches collaboration, humility and that medicine is fundamentally about people. The lesson she returns to most often is surprisingly simple.
“ What would you do for your family and friends?” she said.“ That’ s all you do and you don’ t complicate it.”
Her approach to pain management blends evidence-based Western medicine with an appreciation for Eastern traditions she grew up with, including tools such as mindfulness, nutrition, meditation and acupuncture.“ I don’ t think it’ s anything that replaces Western medicine,” she said.“ I think it’ s an adjunct. That’ s what holistic medicine means to me.”
She encourages patients to think about wellness as something larger than a single injection, procedure or prescription. Movement matters, sleep matters, mental health matters.
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