What makes this fellowship special?
The most incredible thing about fellowship at the Mayo Clinic is the ecosystem in place here. As trainees at the Mayo Clinic, you expect the best from your medical faculty, and that is indeed what you find: world-class, talismanic leaders in the field. However, the reason why our faculty can provide as excellent a training environment for us as they do, is because every piece of the training environment is carefully thought out, and delivered. The expertise of the adjunct staff, including the respiratory therapists, the nurses, the social services, PT and OT, and other adjunct services also breed a culture of excellence among themselves, thus creating an environment of excellence. In such an environment, fellows are called to a higher standard, and are given the tools to beat that standard. Of all my training experiences, this has been unique.
The other component is the cross-learning among different specialties. Mayo stands alone as an institution in attaining renown in every single field of medicine, and is at the top or near the top of every specialty. So, not only do we learn from the best in our field of critical care, we also learn from the best in other fields of medicine, fostering a more completely rounded training experience.
What are the strengths of the clinical training in this fellowship?
The balance our fellowship manages to achieve in mixing the horses with the zebras, is incredible. At a world-renowned institution like this, you get the opportunity to treat patients from different parts of the world, with conditions and presentations that have elsewhere been a mystery. This allows us to flex our diagnostic muscle, and think out of the box, when dealing with clinically difficult situations. On the other end of the spectrum, the Mayo Clinic serves as a referral center for a large area in the Minnesota-Wisconsin region, bringing in a number of patients that make up the bulk of routine practice. By mixing these training environments, you get the best of both worlds: training for the masses, but ready for the rare.
The other advantage of training at the Mayo Clinic is how large it is, and how diverse the patients are. As a result, we have ICU’s across multiple specialties, and we get to immerse ourselves completely in different kinds of ICUs. Each, of course, is a different learning experience, and polishes a different aspect of your critical care training.
What is your research interest?
Resource utilization and quality improvement are two of my primary research interests. With the burgeoning costs of health care, identifying efficient ways to provide high-quality health care, especially in the critical care setting, is a daunting challenge. Working on these challenges is what I enjoy the most, as they will have real-world impact. In this fellowship, due to the breadth of expertise available, you will find a mentor, no matter how niche your research focus. In addition, with all the resources available to you, you will feel supported in your pursuit of academic excellence.
What opportunities have you had for career development?
The program leadership takes very serious interest in developing fellows as leaders. Right from day one of orientation, a strong emphasis has been placed on self-actualization, and on our journey to be our best selves. It is no coincidence that graduates from our program go on to spearhead, and lead departments of their own. As with everything at the Mayo Clinic, this is no accident, but a carefully instituted policy of developing its talent for success in the world outside.
What is living in Rochester, Minnesota like for you?
Rochester is a small town, although it has been growing exponentially in recent years. With it becoming a Destination Medical Center in the next few years, tremendous investment is expected that would complement an already-present wealth of community facilities. Not so small that there wouldn’t be anything to do, and yet not so big that you might get lost, it probably hits the sweet spot in terms of town size. There are activities for people of different persuasions, be it sports, nature or theater. An hour’s drive from the twin cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul, it offers an excellent amalgamation of small-town comfort with big city opportunity. We have four seasons here, which is beautiful, and although the winters can get long, the entire town has infrastructure in place for you to be comfortable even on the snowiest of days. When combined with a congenial class of fellows, and a young town feel, Rochester can actually be a lot of fun!