Bio
I am a Certified Physician Assistant based in the greater Washington, D.C. area, with more than 12 years of surgical experience. After earning my Master of Health Sciences and completing the Physician Assistant program at Duke University in 2012, I went on to complete the Duke Physician Assistant Surgical Residency. Since that time, I have dedicated my career to advancing patient care in both operative and clinical settings.
My passion for medicine was shaped at an early age while overcoming childhood leukemia diagnoses at the age of two and fully in remission at the age of six. More than three decades later, after living a healthy and active life, I faced an unexpected diagnosis of end-stage heart failure, with an ejection fraction of only five percent. No defined cause was established, except for the cardiotoxic chemotherapy I received as a child. My health was good at the time of my diagnosis, only noticing a fast heart beat and mild fatigue, which prompted me to see a PCP and request a visit with a Cardiologist. Within days, I transitioned from assisting in surgery to being in the intensive care unit on heart-lung bypass. After only a week on ECMO, awake and in critical condition I was fortunate enough to be matched with a donor heart for my transplant. Thanks to the extraordinary care and dedication of the Inova Fairfax Heart Failure and Transplant Team, I received a lifesaving heart transplant in May 2023.
Now several years post-transplant, I am working, traveling, physically active, and living a full life. My experience as a transplant recipient has deepened my own understanding of the patient perspective as a healthcare provider.
Advocacy Experience
Being a provider in healthcare, I have always heard and known about patient advocacy. It absolutely takes on another meaning when you become the patient. I noticed more of a need and place for compassion from the healthcare realm. Not to say that healthcare workers in all capacities are compassionate for their patients, but there is a distinct level of empathy that comes from speaking to someone who understands first-hand what you are going through. Ever since my transplant, which was in the hospital where I work, I spend multiple days a month, talking to patients and families one on one at the bedside. My goal through doing this is to give back, but also for patients to see that just because someone is wearing scrubs or walking around with a hospital badge it doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen to anyone. Selfishly this has helped me heal and cope with this drastic life change more than anything.
I have also been given the opportunity to speak at multiple events and conferences for healthcare providers. Most recently I was asked to speak at a Cardiothoracic and Vascular surgery conference for Physician Assistants. To me with advocacy I see a great place for educating and bringing awareness to providers as well. Many times the transplant patient goes through so many different levels of care, that even the ones saving their lives do not often know what life looks like for them down the road.
Advocacy Interests
I would like to continue my work one on one with patients and families in all different stages of the transplant process. The goal would be to expand this to a larger scale with hopes to do more social media or events related to sharing, discussing, and supporting those throughout their journey.
I would also like to continue speaking and educating healthcare workers and providers about the life of a transplant patient. Being able to communicate and share the life of a transplant patient from the perspective of a provider.
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