UChicago EM

she/her/hers

Hey everyone! I am a first-generation Ghanaian-American and life-long native of New Jersey. I attended Columbia University in the City of New York for undergrad (Roar Lions Roar!), majoring in Neuroscience and Behavior. Throughout my time at Columbia, I made an active effort to be an involved member of the student body. While in college, I was an engaged member of Student Council, an executive board member of The Charles Drew Pre-Medical Society, and created my own performing arts student group, Venom Step Team. Outside of campus, I held various internships in the medical field, from working in medical philanthropy at the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation to interning at Novartis Pharmaceuticals. After graduating from Columbia in 2014, I conducted translational laboratory research at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania for two years before beginning medical school at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in 2016. During my gap years, I also worked as an ED Medical Scribe, where I began to fall in love with the fast-paced, ever-evolving field of Emergency Medicine! In medical school at Rutgers, I served as a Class of 2020 Student Council Representative, the Vice President of the Student National Medical Association, the Treasurer of the Emergency Medicine Interest Group, and an Elected-Member of the Rutgers New Jersey School Admission Committee. I also gave back to the Newark community through various community service organizations and graduated with a distinction in Urban Health. During my fourth year, I was fortunate to do an away rotation at the University of Chicago and was absolutely blown away by the amazing residents, the welcoming faculty, the strong leadership, the family environment, the awe-inspiring patients, and the wonderful city of Chicago. After my Sub-I, I knew that UChicago was the perfect place for me to grow and train into the best EM doc I could be! My professional interests lie in being an advocate for the underserved, giving back to disadvantaged communities, and exploring ways to bridge the gap in medical care for those from underprivileged backgrounds. Outside of medicine, I am an avid traveler who loves to experience the intricacies of other cultures and explore the globe, especially when it involves laying on the beach. I also love boxing in my free time—but don’t worry, I’m a lover, not a fighter! Looking forward to joining the UChicago EM Class of 2023!

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Hello! I’m Derek, but I’ve always gone by “Ricky” (or some variation of it). I was born and bred in the DMV, having been brought up in Columbia, MD as the baby of a big Haitian family. For undergrad, I moved to Washington, DC to attend Georgetown University, where I studied Human Science and Economics with a focus on healthcare disparities in underprivileged communities. This framed my views of the medical field, and encouraged me to choose Howard University College of Medicine for medical school.

After graduating from Georgetown, I decided to head out west to the Bay Area for a year to work as a healthcare consultant. As much as I enjoyed the weather and scenery, I couldn’t wait to get started at Howard, where I became actively involved in mentorship and community service through SNMA as Chapter President.

During my clinical rotations, I was captivated by emergency medicine: the urgency of patient care, the consequences of decision-making, and the controlled chaos. I found emergency medicine to be a compelling field because it provides a window into the community. I wanted to train at an academic institution that is dedicated to caring for the underserved, with residents and faculty that reflect the diversity of their patients. So when I touched down in Chicago, it was a done deal — everyone I met on my interview day was warm and welcoming, and it quickly became clear that the University of Chicago was the place for me.

After so much time in the DC area, I’m looking forward to exploring all that Chicago has to offer. I’m a big soccer and hoops fan, so I’m ecstatic to be in a major sports city. I love to play in my free time, as well as going to concerts, traveling when I can, and trying out new restaurants and cuisines. I’ll miss the nation’s brunch capital dearly, but I know the Chicago food scene will keep me busy.

I am so excited and humbled to be continuing my medical career as an EM resident at the University of Chicago!

she/her/hers

Hey, I’m Morgan! I was born in Minnesota but grew up primarily in Portland, Oregon. The pacific northwest definitely instilled a love for outdoor activities – in addition to a tolerance for gray, wet winters.

I attended University of Oregon and ultimately studied human physiology with the goal of finding a non-medicine career path that would totally fulfill me. Spoiler alert: I didn’t. After college, I moved back to Portland and worked in an emergency department and a transgender clinic which ultimately prompted my decision to go to medical school. I decided to leave Oregon and attend University of Arizona for medical school as I was drawn to the diverse population, border and Native health issues, and sunny weather. During this time, I continued to find myself drawn to underserved populations and worked with inmates, asylum seekers, foster children, and domestic violence survivors. While I loved all of my clinical rotations, emergency medicine was the field that truly embodied my personality and interests.

Truthfully, my first time visiting Chicago was during my interview season but the “emergency medicine” in me was ready for a new adventure during residency. It was snowing, 15 degrees, and still, I was on cloud nine. The amazing faculty and residents, paired with the diverse populations, the program’s mission, and the opportunity to be a flight physician just felt like the perfect fit. My success in medical school can definitely be partially attributed to the family of friends I made, and while visiting University of Chicago I felt this exact same fun and supportive camaraderie. I really found myself drawn to county programs while interviewing, and University of Chicago had the patient populations and experiences I was looking for, with the added bonus of academic opportunities. As someone interested in critical care, I also couldn’t ignore the world renowned ICUs at UC.

Outside of medicine – I love true crime anything, hiking, downhill skiing, watching Blazers basketball or Oregon football (though I promise to at least partially adopt Chicago sports teams), traveling, cooking, wine tasting, and trying new restaurants. I could not be happier to start this next adventure with the new University of Chicago family!

he/him/his

I am both honored and grateful to continue working with and learning from the patients, physicians, and staff in the University of Chicago community.

As a 10-year-old paperboy in a small mountain town in Colorado, I always wanted to be an astronaut, a diplomat, or a doctor. I joined the U.S. Army to pay for college and served for 9 years initially working three stories under a pineapple field as a Chinese and French cryptolinguist. When not deep underground, I studied International Relations with a focus on East Asian Studies at Hawaii Pacific University. After three years, I moved to West Africa and worked on security and humanitarian assistance at the U.S. Embassy in Mali. While living in Bamako, I also worked with the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to expand HIV testing and treatment on Malian military bases. In 2009, I achieved my dream of becoming a diplomat when I became a Public Diplomacy Officer at the U.S. Consulate in Szechuan, China. While in Chengdu, I worked with the Chinese NGO Aibai to destigmatize HIV infection in Southwest China and advocate for progressive government policy.

After a family tragedy, I decided to move closer to home. While working at a new intelligence job, I volunteered as an EMT in Prince Georges County outside Washington, DC, and as an ECT escort at Sibley Memorial in Georgetown. In those experiences, I realized how much I appreciated the privilege, working directly to improve the lives of patients. I linked from a post-bac pre-medical program at Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland, to the University of Chicago because of its dedication to its diverse patient population and the unique opportunities to help address health disparities in the local community and abroad. As part of UofC’s Global Health Track and in partnership with several Greek physicians and NGOs, I worked on research exploring the HIV incidence disparity of Athenian MSM. My professional interests include Global Health FOAMed, Ultrasound, Space Medicine, and Social Emergency Medicine.

I love living south of campus in Woodlawn with my husband, who works at a health venture firm, and our dog, Osiris, who once had 70,000 Weibo followers. Outside of medicine you can find me hosting technicolor bonfires at Promontory Point, swimming, traveling to ancient ruins, lifting, watching foreign films, or at the beach.

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Hey! I’m Sandra and I was born and raised in Houston, Texas. Both of my parents were raised in Nigeria, which makes my older brother and I first-generation Nigerian-Americans. This explains my unconditional love for all things Afrobeats, African culture, and jollof rice.

All my best memories of childhood and adolescence center around basketball. I followed my brother’s footsteps and played competitively up until I left Houston for Waco, where I obtained my bachelor of science degree in Psychology from Baylor University. My time at Baylor was spent participating in faith-based medical organizations, attending our men’s and women’s basketball games, and playing in every intramural league/tournament I could find.

After college, I spent time traveling back to Nigeria and London to visit family and friends. I also got the awesome chance to vacation in Dubai for some time before returning to Houston to work as an emergency department scribe for my gap year.

Apart from the fact that two of my personal heroes, Megan thee Stallion and Beyonce, hail from my hometown, attending medical school in Houston seemed to be the next best step on my road to medicine. I spent my free time working on my social media platform Black Girl White Coat and researching ways to promote sexual health education in the local African American community. Learning more about healthcare disparities and inequities and doing what I could to give back to the next generation of URM healthcare professionals really shaped my four-year experience at McGovern.

Walking into my U of C interview day, I was immediately struck by the warm sense of community and the strong commitment to serving the diverse population of the south side. I am grateful for the opportunity to learn from the best, become a part of the U of C family, slowly eat my way through the city of Chicago, and maybe become a Bulls fan!

she/her, they/them

Hey there, I’m Erica. I was born in Philadelphia and grew up in New Jersey, just over the Delaware River. After high school, I ventured north to attend Smith College and majored in the Study of Women and Gender, concentrating in women’s health. Through my studies, I grew increasingly interested in understanding the relationships between identities and health. After graduation, I worked as a community organizer and a part-time cook in Boston (hit me up for recipes!). My organizing work deepened my passions for social justice and community engagement. I soon found myself traveling north again, this time to the University of Michigan (Go Blue!) to pursue my MPH in Epidemiology.

I fell in love with the Midwest over the two years I spent in Ann Arbor. It was during this time that I began to hone in on the concept of the social determinants of health. My time working in research gave me the “upstream” perspective on health disparities, yet I found myself yearning for a more clinical, “downstream,” experience. I made the decision to head back to my home state and attend Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. During my third year clerkship, I fell in love with the field of Emergency Medicine, and haven’t looked back since! My first residency interview was at the University of Chicago. Despite a cancelled flight, a wild night of rearranging travel plans, and interviewing on no sleep, I left my interview day buzzing with excitement. I truly cannot wait to join the U of C family and to serve the people of Chicago.

My professional interests include: LGBTQIAA2+ health, Social Emergency Medicine, and Public Health. Outside of medicine you can find me experimenting in the kitchen, attending my partner’s dance performances, riding my motorcycle (sorry Mom!), struggling to keep up in crossfit, or planning my next big road trip.

she/her/hers

I was born in a small, rural town in New Jersey (yes, rural NJ exists). During my childhood, I spent a lot of time reading, playing outside, and playing the piano. My grandmother was a Nurse Practitioner, and tagging along with her and her nursing friends inspired me to pursue medicine.

While I always knew I wanted to be a doctor, I went to Yale University for undergraduate and majored in Political Science. I felt that studying Political Science would help me better understand the human side of medicine, particularly the systems in which medicine operates. I was still pre-medicine and volunteered in the hospital. I volunteered in the Emergency Department and was overwhelmed by the chaos. Funnily enough, I distinctly remember saying at the time that Emergency Medicine was the one specialty I would never do.

Obviously, that all changed when I got to University of Virginia for medical school. I chose UVA because the students seemed happy and everyone seemed nice – and I was right. My classmates were always uplifting and inspiring me. UVA has a strong commitment to service, so I was able to combine my lessons from Political Science with community service to help underserved and under-represented communities. I also learned more about what I liked and what I didn’t like in medicine. I originally thought I wanted to be a surgeon. I realized that I actually missed the chaos of the ED, and I quickly changed gears to go into Emergency Medicine.

I chose the University of Chicago for residency because I felt that they had similar values as me. We believe in diversity, service to the underserved, and quality care. I’m excited to be a part of such a vibrant community and am looking forward to learning more about health disparities and what I can do to rectify them as a physician.

Outside of the hospital, I still like reading and being outside. I also like hanging out with my little siblings, woodworking, traveling, and (very beginner) painting. I also like arguing about pizza, namely that Northeast pizza will always be the best kind of pizza.

he/him/his

I was always destined to return to the Midwest. I was born in Minneapolis and spent my first few years climbing bookshelves and falling face first into piles of snow. Before long my family moved out West to the smallish town of Bellevue, just outside of Seattle, Washington. Swapping rain for snow didn’t stop me from falling in love with skiing, as my four-year-old self was soon hurtling down Snoqualmie mountain, seeking Starbursts from my ski instructor in exchange for completing acceptable turns. Those lessons taught me two things: how to ski and that I have an insatiable sweet tooth. Over the years I fell in love with Bellevue and, eventually, Seattle, where I attended middle and high school. However, this was outweighed by my thirst for the unknown, prompting me to jettison myself cross-country to Brown University for college.

At Brown I was drawn to the biological sciences, eventually majoring in human biology with a focus on the brain and human behavior. I was also fortunate enough to stumble into a few music history classes including blues, jazz and country which helped reignite and broaden my passion for music. My summers were spent back home in Seattle, doing research with the neuropsychology team at Seattle Children’s Hospital. This was my first real experience working in or around a hospital and it helped to focus my career aspirations towards medicine. Knowing that I wanted to become a physician and having had such limited patient care experience, I once again pinballed across the country after graduation to train as an emergency medical technician (EMT) – this time to San Francisco. After several long months of sleeping on a friend’s couch, I had finished training as an EMT and had landed a job. Working as an EMT was my first taste of emergency medicine and I haven’t looked back since. Four years of medical school in San Diego (I couldn’t bring myself to leave California after living in the Bay) only served to eliminate doubt from my decision.

I couldn’t be more excited to continue my medical journey at the University of Chicago. During my interview I was struck by how warm, kind and accomplished all of the faculty were and by the friendliness and enthusiasm of all the residents. Immediately I knew that this storied program checked all the boxes for me: outstanding clinical training, thoughtful mentorship and amazing resident culture. Add in the city of Chicago, which speaks for itself, and it was a no-brainer. The time had come for me to return to my Midwestern roots.

In my free time I can be found bobbing my head to live music, skiing on any nearby mountain, hanging at the beach, dancing at a silent disco, watching the Seahawks trounce the Bears, drinking exotic cocktails or trying to cook something new.

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Hey everyone, I’m Bernice. I completed a dual degree course of study where I attended medical school at Emory University School of Medicine and pursued a Master’s in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. I am so excited to begin this next step of my journey and serve the people of Chicago’s south side!

I grew up in Springfield, IL and attended residential high school at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora, IL. I then attended Princeton University where I studied Anthropology with a certificate in Global Health and Health Policy. During college, I served as a Medical Spanish interpreter at a local clinic and studied abroad in Spain and at the University of Havana, where I wrote a junior thesis in Spanish about the women’s healthcare infrastructure in Cuba. I also interned with the Illinois Department of Public Health’s Center for Minority Health and engaged in HIV/AIDS advocacy and research. One of my research projects on novel treatments for Kaposi’s sarcoma was published in Blood Journal and led to an opportunity to present at the International Conference on AIDS & STIs in Africa, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia that year.

I began seriously considering medical school during a college summer program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Institute of Health Economics where I learned that my passion for public health policy could be blended into a career as a practitioner. Upon graduation, I was fortunate to be awarded the Allen Macy Dulles Service Award, given to the graduating senior student whose activities best exemplify the motto: “Princeton in the nation’s service and in the service of all nations.”

After college, I worked with a New York City agency focused on early childhood mental health, before matriculating into medical school. There, I continued attending to vulnerable populations, serving as coordinator of a student-run clinic for those who lack traditional healthcare access (uninsured, homeless & undocumented individuals). I was also actively engaged with Student National Medical Association, Medical Spanish Interest Group, and Emory Health Against Human Trafficking. With the latter, I pioneered the idea to produce & direct The Vagina Monologues with a cast of my classmates and raised thousands of dollars to benefit domestic and international human trafficking organizations.

While doing my 3rd year clinical rotations at Grady Memorial Hospital, one of the largest public hospitals in the country, I was astounded by the resilience of the patients with whom I interacted. I also felt helpless every time we saw patients who we could not heal with a simple prescription, as their ailments were rooted in poverty and a system that continually fails them. I decided to take a hiatus from medical school after my 3rd year to study public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where I was fortunate to be chosen for a full scholarship. I wanted to dedicate time to reflecting on how I, as a practitioner, could serve as an agent of change both on the individual and systemic levels. At the Kennedy School, I was honored to be selected for a fellowship that allowed me to work on the gubernatorial transition team for then-incoming Governor JB Pritzker in my home state of Illinois.

I had never considered emergency medicine early in medical school. Several of my friends and mentors highlighted to me the ways that EM lends itself perfectly to a career of serving our society’s most vulnerable populations and allows me to apply my passion for health policy into my work. After only my first shift, I fell in love! The University of Chicago is the perfect place for me to launch into this career as it serves the resilient people of Chicago’s South Side, while having the resources of a world-class academic institution. It also has some of the happiest and most vibrant residents and faculty that I have ever met. I am still emotional when I think of how blessed I am to be starting my career here!

Outside of the hospital, I spend a lot of time creating content for my YouTube Channel “Being Bernice”, where I aim to make a resource for those who are curious about how to successfully get into and succeed in medical school, graduate school, and residency. I also love throwing themed dinner parties to bring people together for food and fun!

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Hi there!
I’m Kirlos – I go by Kiro – and I was born in a small village in Egypt called El Kousia! After I popped out, my mom and dad decided they would take their four kids to Texas and then finally to Miami, Florida where I grew up! There, I was surrounded by an amazing Coptic Orthodox church community that supported me and taught me the unquestionable value of selfless service; up until I graduated from the University of Miami.

After that, I spent four pretty awesome years in the “gritty” city of Philadelphia trying my best to learn what medicine was all about. In that time, I met some of my best friends in the world and also almost accidentally helped burn the city down after we won the Super Bowl.

Now, I’m excited to start my career as an Emergency Medicine doctor at the University of Chicago! I am set on diving into my core clinical training but also insistent that I’ll be growing outside of the ER too. Look out for me in either a Social EM lecture or on the shore of Lake Michigan.

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Hello everyone! I was born in St. Petersburg, Russia and immigrated to the United States when I was 4 years old. Both my parents are theatrical artists and I grew up in Washington, DC surrounded by paintings, sculptures, puppets, and sets. Despite the artistic environment around me, I was always drawn to the sciences. At the end of high school I chose to shadow a physician who was working as an Internal Medicine attending. She suggested I try out a shift in the ED. Since that first shift I have loved everything about Emergency Medicine. For me there is nothing more meaningful than having to form a bond of trust with a patient within a couple minutes of meeting them. I also love the challenge of parallel processing while talking, thinking, and treating.

Thus far I am a UChicago lifer, having attended undergrad and medical school not only in the same university but even in the same building! During medical school I loved teaching peers and other students, everything from anatomy to BLS. I have also tried to spread my love of EM to others. I am very excited to continue working with the amazing patients of the South Side and proud to be part of such a diverse group of remarkable residents!

In my free time I still use the artistic skills passed down to me from my parents to draw, paint, and sew. Sometimes I use these skills to teach students such as when I made a felt model of the pelvis. I also enjoy watching nerdy television and going on walks around Hyde Park with my husband.

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Hey everyone! I’m Mike.

I was born and raised in Southern California, mostly in the South Bay Area. I also lived in Idaho Falls, ID for a few years where I fell in love with camping, hiking, and fishing.

I attended UC San Diego in beautiful La Jolla where I majored in Physiology and Neuroscience. I graduated in 2004 and dove in clinical research where I eventually landed in a Phase 3 Clinical Trial working on the streamlining of clinical manufacturing for the purification and isolation of cancer stem cells to generate our clinical product. Working closely with the physicians running the clinical trial, my passion for medicine grew exponentially. Having been out of school for 10 years, I decided to attend a Post-Baccalaureate program at UCLA to prepare myself for medical school.

I attended medical school at Brown University where I was convinced that I would be going into oncology, however, I soon discovered my passion for EM. Most of my clerkships allowed for time either within the ED or an ICU. It was in the MICU that I found my incredibly supportive EM mentors who helped me navigate my 4th year. I loved the dynamic nature of the ED with the excitement of working up a truly undifferentiated patient. Moreover, being on the frontlines and being able to address the social determinants of health really hit home how much I loved EM.

My interview at UofC was my first time in Chicago and it was love at first sight. I absolutely fell in love with Chicago and after having an amazing pre-interview dinner and interview day, I just knew that I had found my place. People talk about “fit” and I really didn’t understand what they meant until I left my interview. The sense of camaraderie was palpable and I could see that the residents considered UofC as a second family. I immediately called my husband and told him that I had fallen in love with UofC.

My professional interests include Medical Education, Social EM, Ultrasound, and Critical Care with hopes of pursuing a fellowship in one of these after residency.

Outside of medicine, I love to be outdoors including hiking, jogging, and kayaking (Kauai was the best so far). The hubby and I love to watch horrible Sci-Fi TV shows and B-horror movies. I’m obsessed with escape rooms and can’t wait to try some out in Chicago!

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Hey everyone! My name is Taylor and I couldn’t be more excited to join UChicago EM! I grew up in Orland Park, IL, a southwest suburb of Chicago, and thoroughly enjoyed growing up amidst the chaos that is being one of six kids! I went to Loyola University Chicago for undergrad where I studied Biology with plans to pursue a career as a geneticist; however, that all changed during my first exposure to the medical field working as a scribe in a community ED. I worked as a full time scribe all throughout undergrad and absolutely loved the diversity of patients, teamwork, intensity, and how the ER physicians truly advocated for their patients and team. I was fortunate enough to continue on at Loyola Stritch School of Medicine via their Early Assurance program and while I kept an open mind throughout all of my clerkships, I couldn’t deny I felt most at home in a busy ER.

After my rotation at University of Chicago, I knew this was the program I wanted to be at. On my first shift, I remember my resident saying in passing “some would say we have it all here” and I couldn’t agree more. I absolutely loved the mix of an urban, underserved patient population, exceptional academics, and diverse, enthusiastic residents and faculty. Throughout my shifts, residents and faculty empowered students to function at their full potential as they seamlessly incorporated excellent bedside teaching while running a code or resuscitating some of the most critical patients, and I knew that was the type of EM physician I wanted to be one day. Also, during my interview day everyone was so genuine, fun, and passionate that I simply couldn’t stop smiling!

My professional interests include critical care and medical education, especially reciprocating all of the mentorship I’ve received as a first generation medical student. Outside of medicine, I love going to concerts & music festivals, running along Lake Michigan, and hanging around the city with family and friends!

she/her/hers

I was born and raised in Houston, Texas. Growing up with the mindset that “Everything is Bigger in Texas”, I always aspired to achieve greatness. My journey to medicine began at the age of 14 when I entered Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions. While at DeBakey, I was exposed to different aspects of healthcare, solidifying my desire to become a physician.

I attended Loyola University New Orleans and received my Bachelor of Science in Chemistry; I am the Carbon of my chemist mom 🙂 . While at Loyola, I discovered my passion for giving back and leadership. I volunteered for 4 years at St. Anna’s Arts for Kids, went on a mission trip for a month in Dangriga, Belize, and participated in many pipeline programs through my sorority, Delta Sigma Theta, Sorority, Inc. I finished my senior year as a scribe for a hematologist and fell in love with the Sickle Cell community.

I took a gap year before medical school, where I taught as an associate teacher at my high school – life made full circle. I was also a bartender so you can say I’m the Jack of all trades! I then moved to Dallas to obtain my medical degree at UT Southwestern Medical School. Somewhere in between volunteering in the Sickle Cell community, underserved populations, and loving the acuity of pathology, I found my place in Emergency Medicine.

The residents at the University of Chicago are truly what drew me to the program. Seeing so many diverse, young physicians thriving and truly enjoying their training, was beautiful to witness. In addition to the diversity, which is unmatched, it is one of the oldest and strongest programs in the nation. I am thrilled to be apart of such a rich history and to do so alongside like-minded individuals.

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Hey all! I’m Erron (pronounced just like Aaron or Erin thankfully) and I grew up in northeast Wisconsin for pretty much my whole life. I come from a family of business people and can’t exactly remember where my interest in medicine first started, but my brother and I were the first doctors in the family when we both graduated in 2020.

I received my undergrad degree in Medical Microbiology & Immunology from the University of Wisconsin in 2012. While living in Madison I also volunteered as an EMT with a local EMS agency, which is what first sparked my interest in Emergency Medicine. I enjoyed the fast-paced and unpredictable nature of it and loved the ability to make a real difference for others in emergency situations.

After graduating from college I decided to take some time off before applying to medical school and ended up starting a career as a Project Manager at Epic Systems Corporation, the EMR used her at the University of Chicago Hospital. I traveled all over the country (and the world) helping hospital systems plan and implement the electronic medical records software at their sites.

After almost 4 years I decided it was time to pursue my dream to go to med school where I studied at Michigan State University in Grand Rapids. I went into it thinking I wanted to do Emergency Medicine but tried to keep an open mind during all of my other rotations. None of the other areas of the hospital compared to the ED though, where I felt most at home. I was continually drawn by the personalities of those who choose the specialty, that unpredictability I loved so much during my time with EMS, and the wide breadth of knowledge the physicians had.

I was lucky enough to spend a summer in med school doing some research at the UChicago Department of Emergency Medicine and be exposed to the program first hand as an M2. I was impressed first and foremost by the people. All of the residents and faculty were so diverse, approachable, and fun–but at the same time wicked smart and fantastic physicians. That coupled with the amazing patient population and the city of Chicago that I already loved so much was a slam dunk for me during the interview season.

In my free time, I like to exercise, play with other people’s dogs, play video games, cook, bake, and travel whenever I can.

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Hey everyone! I’m Anjali. I was born and raised in Michigan until the age of ten when my family moved across the globe to Bangalore, India for my mother’s job. I spent seven years living overseas, and returned to the suburbs of Detroit for my senior year of high school. I grew up a middle child in a family of automotive engineers. In fact, I will be the first doctor in the family. I attended the University of Michigan for my undergraduate schooling (Go Blue!), and took a year off before moving to south Florida for the MD/MPH dual-degree program at the University of Miami. My public health research as a medical student focused primarily on firearm violence, and evolved into curriculum development to educate medical students on firearm safety.

I pursued a career in Emergency Medicine because I found myself to be happiest in the high-volume, high-acuity, fast-paced environment of the ED. Moreover, I enjoy working with an underserved patient population and I admired the dedication to patient care that I saw in EM physicians. I am so excited to return to the Midwest and complete my EM training in Chicago. I chose UC because of the program’s commitment to training a diverse group of physicians, the faculty and residents I interacted with on my interview day, and the ability to continue exploring my public health interests in a major city.

Outside of the hospital, I enjoy practicing yoga, running and long walks on the beach with my dog. We are looking forward to exploring the city and becoming part of the UC family!