Pediatric Cardiology Fellow, Duke University Medical Center
About the UM Experience
I am in my second year of pediatric cardiology fellowship. My fellowship track is slightly different than the standard two years clinical training and one year of research. I am currently under a NIH-sponsored institutional research training grant in which I have two years time to do research and then my final two years of fellowship will be clinical. The focus of my research is changes in excitation-contraction coupling during embryonic chick heart development. My training at the University of Miami, both clinical and research, was ideal for my career goals. Throughout my pediatric residency, I encountered few situations that I had not already been exposed to either directly or peripherally during medical school. This was a direct result of the opportunities to do electives in NICU, pediatric cardiology, Harvey, ER, trauma, pediatric surgery, and pediatric hematology/oncology at the Miller School of Medicine. Moreover, the research training by my mentor and thesis committee forced me to be a thorough and critical scientist. These skills have been invaluable in commencing my research career.
Fond UM Memory
1. MD/PhD case presentations with all the MD/PhD students, Dr. Bookman and Dr. O'Connell. These were great in gearing our minds to look for connections bewteen the clinical symptoms/signs/labs/diseases and their underlying scientific explanations.
2. Hanging out with all the Neuroscience Program graduate students and professors at the Rosenstiel Marine School bar.
3. Dinner at Miami Subs with my mentor and Dr. Bookman during evenings of long experiment days.
4. The sail-boat cruise.
5. Attending the Society For Neuroscience meeting in our backyard, Miami Beach.
