Introducing Claire
Friday, April 06, 2007
Claire Turchi, MD
It was after graduating from college that I first entertained the idea of a career in medicine. None of my post-college positions had been quite right for me and after dissecting out what I liked about each job I realized I was looking for a career which provided intellectual challenge, the opportunity to directly impact the lives of individuals, and work that made a difference.
I took my premedical classes at Goucher College in Towson, Maryland, a fantastic one-year program for people with at least a bachelor's degree who want to pursue a career in medicine. Upon completion of my premedical requirements I was off to Vanderbilt University for medical school. I enjoyed my clinical experiences tremendously and as graduation grew near I made the decision to pursue a career in Emergency Medicine.
My favorite part of this job is mystery and intrigue of being the first person to encounter a patient with a new medical problem or complaint that they have decided is too emergent to wait for routing medical care. It has provided me with great challenges and has humbled me on more than one occasion. It is a privilege to be the first physician to evaluate a new complaint, and in the emergency department I do this many times every day.
The team environment in the emergency department is a valued component of this career. I have always been drawn to team activities, from team tennis to ultimate Frisbee. The team environment that I found in the emergency department fulfilled my desire to continue to work with others in pursuit of a common goal.
The field of emergency medicine will require me to be a lifelong student of medicine. I have found that in addition to the intellectual challenges of diagnosis and treatment, I have also enjoyed learning a variety of diagnostic and therapeutic procedural skills. I enjoy the patient population that frequents the emergency department. I am excited to be surrounded by colleagues who are excited by the same clinical challenges and curiosities. I am excited to be continuing my training at Stanford, and I look forward to building a career in emergency medicine.
2 Comments:
At Mon Apr 09, 09:59:00 AM 2007,
Richard Donahue said…
it would be nice if every physician wrote a blurb in their own words that describe themselves and how they came to be what they are.
you sound like the kind of physician that any patient would be lucky to have contact with.
i am from boston and receive my healthcare from the staff at mass.general hospital. while the institution projects an air of being the finest, the background blurbs of its' physicians and other professionals have no inkling of just what that doctor is like. granted in the er, which is the most chaotic one could be in,there is no time for credential search but i have never read about any physician who tells in their own words what they are about.
kudos to you, i wish i was there or you were in mgh.
richard donahue
At Mon Apr 23, 05:28:00 PM 2007,
Paul said…
Claire,
I am impressed about your motivation and how strong you were to change careers. I am 31 architect and in real estate and marketing and flirting with the idea of going back to medical school. I welcome the idea to talk to you as if i go back i am interested in ER. Let me know how and if i can contact you. I got accpeted to both AU and Gtown post bacc-pre med , ddnt apply to Goucher. I am looking forward to hear from you.
Best
PM
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