3rd Year Fellows
Where you Completed your Residency: Oregon Health and Science University, Portland.
Where you completed Medical School: University of Nottingham Medical School, England UK.
Undergraduate School: Same as above.
Medical Areas of Interest: Pediatric congenital heart disease, cardiovascular physiology, electrophysiology and sports medicine.
Interests & Hobbies: I'm a sports fanatic! Love playing football (soccer) and golf. Enjoy skiing in the Winter and hiking/camping with my family (we have three busy/wild/fun kiddos aged 2,5 & 7yrs old) in the Summer!
Hometown: The Wirral, England (small peninsular in the NW of England, ~30mins from Liverpool).
Why Utah Pediatric cardiology? High clinical volume and variety; dedicated CICU, with a well supported transplant program. The people. The place.
What is your favorite part about our program? The people. Without doubt, the faculty here cultivate an environment that is wholly supportive for trainees, with strong focus on research and education.
What is your favorite part about living in Salt Lake City? The great outdoors! The mountains are literally on our doorstep...
What cool research/advocacy/education/scholarly work are you participating in? Looking at the utility of 2D speckle tracking echocardiography in Covid-19/MIS-C population.
What has been a standout rotation or teaching experience you've been part of as a fellow? Bi-monthly surgical teaching rounds with our cardiothoracic surgeons. It speaks volumes that they are invested in fellow education.
What is something you didn't know before coming to Utah that you wish you did? Literally, just HOW close the mountains are. Adventure abounds.
What are your plans following fellowship? Still undecided, but considering a fourth year fellowship in advanced imaging.
What made you decide to come to Utah? Balanced program and prestigious training opportunity.
Undergraduate: University of Michigan - B.S.
Medical School: University of Michigan Medical School - M.D.
Residency: University of Utah
Medical Areas of Interest - Electrophysiology, Global health
Interests & Hobbies - Running, especially the thousands of miles of trails in Utah! Skiing, camping, mountain biking, enjoying a good book in my hammock
Hometown: Monroe, MI
Why Utah?I first fell in love with Utah and the fantastic faculty and trainees at the University of Utah/Primary Children's Hospital during my residency interview, and this love just keeps growing! To me, it's the perfect combination of a supportive training environment with world class faculty located in an incredible place to live.
What is your favorite part about our program? Supportive faculty and fellows who are fun to work with; great research support; large patient volume and variety; quick access to outdoor recreation and numerous national parks
What are your favorite parts about living in Salt Lake City?Being able to go on a trail run directly from the hospital; world class ski resorts ~45 minutes from the hospital; not much traffic!
What cool research/advocacy/education/scholarly work are you participating in?I have the fortune of being the inaugural pediatric cardiology - global health fellow. The global health component involves clinical and research work in Guatemala and participating in other global health related experiences with other pediatric global health fellows at the University of Utah. I am also working on a couple EP-related research projects with some great mentors at the University of Utah.
What has been a standout rotation or teaching experience you've been part of as a fellow? While the learning curve for many cardiology rotations are steep, I've appreciated the dedication and patience all of the faculty and staff have had helping the fellows learn and feel more comfortable on each rotation. And I appreciate the cath lab nurses always coming up with the best nicknames for the fellows.
What I wish I knew before coming to Utah:That I should've warned my family I won't be returning to Michigan.
What are your plans following fellowship?I plan to pursue a career that includes pediatric cardiology in low-resourced domestic and international settings and electrophysiology.
2nd Year Fellows
Where you Completed your Residency: University of Utah/Primary Children's
Where you completed Medical School: University of Utah
Undergraduate School: Westminster College
Medical Areas of Interest: General pediatric cardiology, fetal cardiology, personalized medicine, catheter-based intervention
Interests & Hobbies: Camping, gardening, hiking, trying new restaurants, hanging out with husband and dogs
Hometown: Salt Lake City
Why Utah Pediatric cardiology? This is a busy program with amazing mentors, a strong research infrastructure, and located in my favorite place!
What is your favorite part about our program? I like that the people here are invested in teaching and that everyone is so approachable and helpful
What is your favorite part about living in Salt Lake City? I like having a full 4 seasons and enjoying exploring the city and surrounding mountains
What cool research/advocacy/education/scholarly work are you participating in? I am currently hoping to find a research project that fits my interests but am also helping with a QI project about feedback for fellows.
What has been a standout rotation or teaching experience you've been part of as a fellow? I loved my cath rotation because I learned a TON, the attendings were great teachers, and the procedure part was also super interesting and exciting
What is something you didn't know before coming to Utah that you wish you did? I have always been here so I will say that this place is addictive and nearly impossible to leave!
What are your plans following fellowship? I am not 100% sure yet but I think I would like to be an attending at a teaching/academic hospital and get to take care of interesting patients.
What made you decide to come to Utah? The people, the city, the learning environment, and the opportunities!
Undergraduate: Indiana University, Purdue University Indianapolis
Medical School: University of Alabama Birmingham School of Medicine
Residency: Baylor College of Medicine at Texas Children's Hospital, Dr. Kelly DeScioli Global Child Health Pediatrics Residency Program
Medical Areas of Interest: Pediatric cardiology, post cardiothoracic surgery outcomes
Interests & Hobbies: being a dad, hiking, running, biking, traveling abroad, baking
Hometown: Fishers, Indiana
Why Utah Pediatric cardiology? Utah’s Pediatric cardiology fellowship program offers the unique opportunity of a large referral center with a five-state catchment area. This is in conjunction with a minimal fourth-year fellow presence, allowing for maximal autonomy and hands-on training with complex patients. Throughout residency, I came to realize I learned best by doing and by being regularly challenged - I knew I would get exactly that at Primary Children’s. Further, the faculty is full of nationally and internationally renown physicians and researchers on both the cardiology and cardiovascular intensivist side. It quickly became clear to me on my interview day that these same experts were humble and offered readily accessible knowledge and mentoring. Lastly, living in Utah offers ease of access to a slew of quick and beautiful getaways, offering catharsis after challenging months learning and caring for complex patients.
What is your favorite part about our program? From the outset, it has been clear how down to earth each faculty member and fellow is. Everyone is so approachable and is clearly and genuinely happy to be here in Utah and working at Primary Children’s. People have hobbies and yet are still hardworking and clearly love what they do. It’s a positively contagious environment.
What is your favorite part about living in Salt Lake City?I was pleasantly surprised to find the diversity of food scene here in Salt Lake. Essentially all of my go to cuisine, from Peruvian to Thai to Szechuan, I can always find a few great options for what I’m craving. There is also no shortage of bubble tea offerings, a true staple of my diet.
What cool research/advocacy/education/scholarly work are you participating in? I am currently wrapping up projects started during the tail end of my residency, focusing on in-hospital outcomes in postoperative single ventricle patients with systemic-to-pulmonary shunts for pulmonary-dependent blood flow.
What is something you didn't know before coming to Utah that you wish you did? I honestly don’t have a great answer for this question. Everything in Utah has just been a welcome surprise.
What are your plans following fellowship? Following fellowship I anticipate I will do additional training, either in electrophysiology or completing a critical care fellowship. I anticipate my experiences over this next year and my mentors will help guide me to the best fit.
Undergraduate: Concordia College (Moorhead, MN)
Medical School: Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN)
Residency: Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN)
Medical Areas of Interest: All of cardiology really! But cardiac ICU is my favorite so far.
Interests & Hobbies: Spending time with family and friends, hiking, camping, traveling, exploring new restaurants and breweries
Hometown: Cloud, MN
Why Utah Pediatric cardiology? It is an excellent combination of everything I valued as I searched for a program: positive learning environment, high volume and diverse pathology, great comradery among fellows, ample research support, and a city that will allow me to enjoy life outside of work
What is your favorite part about our program? So far, I've felt so blessed to have the upper level fellows helping us adjust and get acclimated. They are so welcoming, kind, and helpful!
What is your favorite part about living in Salt Lake City? Insanely easy access to amazing outdoor activities (hiking, mountain biking, trail running, skiing)
What cool research/advocacy/education/scholarly work are you participating in? So far I'm just putting out feelers to see what types of projects different faculty are involved in. I can't wait to dive in further.
What is something you didn't know before coming to Utah that you wish you did? Everyone here (at the hospital and beyond) seems genuinely happy and super nice. We've met tons of random strangers who are excited to hear that we've moved here and are happy to share suggestions of great places to eat, fun hikes, and other activities.
What are your plans following fellowship? Still deciding! I'm considering pursuing a second fellowship in ICU but an excited to explore other areas within the field as potential career paths as well.
What made you decide to come to Utah? The program checked all the important boxes for me and the location can't be beat given my love of the outdoors!
1st Year Fellows
Medical Areas of Interest: Interventional pediatric cardiology, pediatric heart failure and transplant.
Interests and Hobbies: Fishing, hunting, hiking, photography.
Why Utah: Program reputation, location, family.
What is your favorite part about our program: It encompasses all aspects of pediatric cardiology.
What is your favorite part of living in SLC: Access to mountains and outdoor recreation.
What cool research/advocacy/education/scholarly work are you participating in: Previously involved in transcatheter closure of micro premature infant patent ductus arteriosus and less invasive methods of heart transplant rejection detection.(have not started with projects in Utah yet)
Interests & Hobbies: Mountain biking, hiking, hanging out with family
Why Utah: I’ve loved living in Salt Lake City for residency and taking advantage of all the outdoor activities that are easily accessible. The people at Primary Children’s are fantastic and the high volume of patients keeps it interesting!
What cool research/advocacy/education/scholarly work are you participating in? I’m finishing up a manuscript on pediatric providers opinions regarding pregnancy post heart transplant.
Interests & Hobbies: Travel, volleyball, baking, baseball, hiking, puzzles
Why Utah: I felt like the fellows got along well, seemed well supported by the program, and had a good work life balance. I love being so close to the mountains and so many National Parks!