Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» instilled in me the importance of always pursuing and researching ways to improve the quality of patient care.
Was there anything or anyone at Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» that inspired you to become the physician you are today?
Going into Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³», I knew I wanted to pursue surgery. The anatomy lab for me, working with the anatomy staff, helped solidify the position. My 3rd year of clinical rotations is what sold me on vascular surgery. Working with Dr. Stevenson and Dr. Downing was truly a life-changing experience. This was followed in my 4th year doing an elective prosection study in the anatomy lab, greatly set me up to start residency.
How has the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» mission inspired you during residency or in your practice?
Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» instilled in me the importance of always pursuing and researching ways to improve the quality of patient care.
What is the best advice you can give a medical student to help them in their path towards being a physician?
Learn the knowledge in little chunks. Do not try to cram before an exam for two reasons: in short-term memory, you will likely forget most of the information, which is difficult to do with multiple exams a week. Instead, study every day a few hours a day to really lock in the information and ace the exams.
What are your fondest memories about your time at Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»?
Some of my fondest memories were the group study sessions, the time doing prosections in the anatomy lab, and being involved in clubs. Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» is completely different than undergrad because are surrounded by people that are just as driven as you with faculty that are driven to help you succeed.
What career accomplishment are you most proud of?
Currently, I am still training for vascular surgery. I am very proud of my research accomplishments, having over 40 papers/presentations completed. To top that off, I won the Southern Association of Vascular Surgery S. Timothy String Presidential Award in 2024 for my work. One thing Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» did for me was teach me the importance of helping the students, residents, and fellows under me helping them succeed as individuals have helped me. Through residency and now in fellowship, I have had the opportunity to foster students' and residents' interest in research, being their mentors and helping them on projects that ultimately got presented (to date, a total of 16 presentations). That is probably my most significant accomplishment.
When not working, what activities do you enjoy?
When not on the job, I spend my time with my three beautiful daughters, wife, and two dogs. We love exploring Texas and surrounding areas. I also am a powerlifting/ strongman competitor, so training is also a large part of my off time. Lastly, I really enjoy research and writing.