This time of year is dotted with several important milestones and transitions for our medical students, trainees, and faculty – medical school graduation, the beginning of residency, preparing for a new academic year, etc. We sometimes take these perennial points for granted, so we asked a few AAMC leaders to reflect back on their own careers and share their experiences from ‘back in the day.’
Are there any stories or photos ‘from the vault’ of your careers that you’re proud of, nostalgic for, impacted who you are today, or that simply put a smile on your face? We’d love to see them!
From the vault of Dr. @Atul Grover’s career:
“When I was in college, I had the opportunity to spend a month at a rural hospital in India. While I had spent several summers in a lab at the National Cancer Institute, I had never experienced clinical work, much less the kind of care that the most underserved patients need. In those several weeks, I saw people suffering from the types of illnesses and complications that happen when people don’t have adequate access to care—patients with conditions like tetanus and active tuberculosis. I even had a baby die in my lap as we tried to re-hydrate her after a simple viral gastroenteritis. I almost couldn’t stand the pain then and it still hurts now over 20 years later.
From the vault of Dr. @John E. Prescott's career:
“On the morning of December 24, 1990, in Elkins, West Virginia, three-year-old Brittany woke up, and looking for Santa Claus, opened the front door to her home, and went outside into the cold without a coat, hat, or scarf. Hours later, her family discovered her laying frozen in a pile of snow. Within five minutes, paramedics arrived on the scene and confirmed that Brittany’s body was literally frozen stiff.
This is where I join the story… it was a relatively quiet morning in the ED and as an emergency physician at West Virginia University Hospital, I was the lead physician for WVU’s Medical Command Center. One of the responding paramedics called, and described a desperate situation and that she was transporting a child in full cardiac arrest, to the local hospital. The paramedic had never cared for a patient who was severely hypothermic and I then provided the initial direction of the resuscitation and arranged for emergency air transport.
Brittany was rushed to Davis Memorial Hospital where Dr. John Veach took over her care. "We continued CPR and it was our hope that she would survive," he explained. Still unconscious and with a weak pulse, Brittany was taken by ambulance to the airport to be flown 60 miles to the Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh. On Christmas Day I received a phone call stating that Brittany was alive, moving all extremities, and was responding appropriately. This was the best Christmas present I’ve ever received. Brittany’s recovery was slow and difficult, she continued a remarkable recovery and 12 days after Christmas, she was released and went back home.
I had the honor of participating in a re-enactment of this story on CBS’s Rescue 911, which aired in 1991. That's me in the screenshot above! You can watch a clip online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRn41-JLcbM."
Share your stories from "the vault" in the comments section of this post!
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Stephanie Weiner
Manager of Digital Strategy
Association of American Medical Colleges
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