Reflection

As I take a brief break from non-stop writing, to write this blog post, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on a couple of things prior to my graduation in a few days.

First, I thought it would only be fitting to share excerpts from my thesis acknowledgements page. It very much summarizes and mentions those who had a profound impact on both my research and residency year. Many more individuals contributed to my success and experience, but it is not practical to list everyone.

“I would like to thank the physicians and staff of AUMC for their support throughout my research and residency. Key individuals, without whom completion would not have been possible, were Joyce Oliver, Susan Burks, Sheila Tinsley, Dr. Gurmuckh Singh, Dr. Natasha Savage, and Dr. Allison McMullen. …

I would like to thank my program director, Dr. Nadine Fydryszewski, for her unwavering support throughout my entire research and doctoral experience. She has had an insurmountable effect on both this research and my professional development. I would also like to thank other professors at Rutgers University for their contributions to both this research and my doctoral experience including Dr. Elizabeth Leibach, Dr. Shashi Metha, Dr. Scott Parrott, and Dr. Elaine Keohane.

I would like to thank my friends, David Harden and Kathryn Ingalls, for helping me maintain my spiritual sanity throughout the many obstacles that occurred. Lastly, I would like to thank my family for supporting me, tolerating me, and accepting nothing but the best from me throughout this process.”

Secondly, in my last blog post I mentioned that the university publication, Rutgers Today, was writing an article about me. I promised a link when it was published, so here it is (please forgive the picture, as I am not that photogenic and my photographer had just finished trying to explain for the third time in under a minute that you cannot add a test on to a tube of blood when there is no blood left in the tube). Here is the link to the article: https://news.rutgers.edu/rutgers-trailblazer-become-nations-first-doctor-clinical-lab-science/20180510#.WvXTyIgvzIW 

Finally, for those individuals that know me, and perhaps those of you who have been reading this blog have surmised, I like to educate others with a flair of humor. There is one particular individual in healthcare who takes humor to the limits, ZDoggMD. Here is his lab parody anthem, which is pretty spot on given that he is a physician: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqaVacVpbQk  While I will never be as humorous as him, he is a reminder that humor is best medicine and a way to break down barriers.

Over the entire course of my residency I’ve learned much, educated many, and have set the stage for the future. I have data proving that adding a DCLS to the patient healthcare team improves patient outcomes, improves facility quality measures, improves interprofessional communication, and decreases healthcare costs (over $684,000 in documented savings over the last year and counting). Now I must write and publish this data, and a book of case studies, and a book about the DCLS, and my research, and ……….. okay, the reflection and writing break’s over ………. back to work.

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