Growing up in a small southern town, I had the itch to “see the world” (technically, the recruiters didn’t lie) and joined the Army right out of high school. I quickly discovered my passion for adventure when I was trained to jump out of airplanes and rappel from helicopters, and I secretly loved the chaos and high stakes environment of the aviation operations center I worked in during my 3 tours to Iraq and 2 to Afghanistan. I knew I wanted to experience the civilian life and left active duty to attend college, majoring in Movement and Exercise Science as the human body fascinated me. It turns out this is not a very marketable degree in central Iowa, so the natural progression was for me to go to physical therapy school. However, I soon realized I was actually more interested in the complex medical aspects, craved a broader scope of practice, and missed the challenge and fast pace of the military. Through encouragement from a friend in medical school, I began my journey to becoming a physician.
Medical Areas of Interest
Wilderness and Austere Medicine, Tactical Medicine, Global Health.
Interests & Hobbies
It would probably be easier to list the things I don’t like to do! I love learning new things and going on epic outdoor adventures, which encompasses a lot. One of the things I am most passionate about is running, from road marathons to 100 mile trail races, although some of my most rewarding experiences have been pacing and crewing my friends for their own ultramarathons. I also love cycling, which started off recreationally but morphed into long distance gravel racing and dabbling in the insanity of cyclocross (although you certainly don’t have to twist my arm to get me on a 2-wheeled brewery tour). I also enjoy the simplicity of backpacking and have thru hiked most of the Pacific Crest Trail, and am still on a peak bagging mission having completed 31 of the US 14ers. And of course I wouldn’t be in Utah if I didn’t love some fresh pow – currently shredding gnar on my snowboard but eager to pick up skiing again to humble myself just a little more!
Why Utah?
My first experience with Salt Lake City was a few short summer days en route from Wyoming to the southern National Parks where I was able to not only hit up Mount Olympus and Grandeur Peak, but met up with a local trail running group for a couple epic early morning runs. I immediately felt right at home in the Wasatch, and when I did an away rotation here it confirmed my initial feelings and then some! The residency program is full of smart, genuine, caring, and supportive people who not only train you to be the best emergency medicine physician, but also share my passion of the outdoors and live life to the fullest which is exactly what I was looking for!
