"I finished college and did a stint as a substitute teacher, moved on to bartending, then eventually found my way into graduate school at Dartmouth College. My studies were multidisciplinary in health policy, epidemiology & biostatistics, outcomes research, and quality improvement – all on the heels of my years working clinically on the UVM Rescue Ambulance. I finished my master’s degree, then spent a few years in the PhD program. During this time, I used the critical thinking skills developed in the classroom at 70 South Williams Street. These skills were essential for my graduate work, as well as some sideline consulting.

"I was completely engaged in my graduate work, though felt disconnected from clinical medicine. In 2001, I left my PhD program and returned to the UVM College of Medicine. Wow! The last year of medical school, I meandered our amazing country and the globe: the Emergency Department at Mass General, Sports Medicine in Salt Lake City, Adolescent Medicine at Oakland Children’s Hospital. It ended with a two-month trip to Southeast Asia where I volunteered on the tsunami-devastated island of Ko Phi Phi.

"I returned to the States and traded in my relatively easy-going Vermont life for New York City – the perfect place to train in emergency medicine. I adopted the typical resident life of “work hard and play hard.” I took it all in – the Metropolitan Museum of Art, hipsters in Brooklyn, Yankees Stadium (a strange thing for a lifelong Red Sox fan), my favorite Afghani restaurant in Murray Hill, the Orthodox of Borough Park . . .

"Recently, I found my dream job at the Cleveland Clinic as the Director of Operations & Process Improvement in the Emergency Services Institute. As a doctor, I can help a few thousand patients a year. In my administrative role, I have the chance to impact more than 500,000 lives that enter any of twelve Cleveland Clinic emergency departments in northeast Ohio and Florida.

"Let me finish where I began. I would not be the person I am today without my time in the philosophy department. Don Loeb, Arthur Kuflik, and Bill Mann – only a few of the unique personalities that shaped my life, my relationship with the world and the way that I engage with others. Do I recommend philosophy as a college major? Yes, without an ounce of hesitation."