Meet Suzanne...
 Class: Graduate 2005
Hometown: Southbury, Connecticut
Undergrad: James Madison University
Major: Psychology
Program: M.D.
Residency: Massachusetts General Hospital, Pediatrics
Energized by children's inquisitiveness and motivated by the potential difference I could make working with such an impressionable group, I always knew my career would one day involve
children. I wavered between medicine and teaching until I found my niche working at a pediatric office during college summers. I was instantly drawn to the enduring relationships that Dr.
Fountas had developed with her patients and their caretakers. They truly considered her family and looked to her for medical advice and comfort in the most trying situations. Equally appealing
was the critical thinking involved in medicine. I remember spending lunch breaks fingering through office file drawers of journal articles, eager to understand the pathophysiology and
treatment behind the diseases I was seeing.
Clinical rotations throughout medical school only solidified my initial inclination. Pediatrics offered the most attractive combination – academic rigor, longitudinal care, child advocacy,
and emphasis on prevention of disease and injury. Consistently ranked as a top rotation by UConn students, my clinical experience at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center lived up to its reputation.
The teaching was exceptional. Attendings and residents clearly valued their role as educators and a consistent effort was made to incorporate evidence-based practice. In addition, UConn’s
continuity program afforded me the unique opportunity to spend one afternoon a week for three years at a pediatric group practice in Torrington, Connecticut. As a first-year I was able to get
hands on clinical experience and develop my own panel of patients. This early clinical exposure was invaluable when it came time to starting on the wards as a third-year.
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“The key ingredient – the reason I believe I made it through despite the inevitable challenges of medical student life – was the supportive and collegial atmosphere our
program prides itself on.”
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Equally exciting and an integral part of my medical school experience was the opportunity for community outreach. After a year volunteering with AmeriCorps, I began school eager to continue
service work. I signed up to teach Hartford health education classes at a local middle school and became active in several student-run clinics for the underserved. Most memorable were the
evenings my colleagues and I ventured out to Connecticut apple orchards and tobacco fields for the outdoor Migrant Farm Workers Clinic. UConn faculty was also supportive of international
outreach. The summer following first year, a classmate and I developed an independent elective and journeyed to South America, dividing two months between language classes in Uruguay and a
clinical hospital experience in Peru. Nothing is as eye-opening as serving in a community where resources are exceedingly limited and health care is sub-standard.
Looking back on my four years at UConn, the key ingredient – the reason I believe I made it through despite the inevitable challenges of medical student life – was the supportive and collegial
atmosphere our program prides itself on. Professors at UConn are truly approachable and literally opened their home doors several days a year for academic interest groups, weekend retreats,
class picnics, and holiday parties. The program most certainly prepared me academically but more importantly connected me with mentors and advisors that truly made a difference when it came
time to take the next step towards residency. |
