CATCH UP WITH DR. SARAH LOMBARDO - CLASS OF 2018
On several occasions during our decade of medical training, I’m sure we’ve all heard the advice: “don’t take a job where you train, you will never be taken seriously.” But what they don’t tell you are all of the fun perks of a “failure to launch” from your residency home – like not having to sit through any kind of on-boarding orientation, not having to learn a new UID number, and getting to say things like “back when I was a resident…” and it actually having some relevancy to people around you. Am I taken seriously? Difficult to say, but I’m certain the mullet is only helping my case for legitimacy.
After finishing residency in 2018, I completed the two-year Acute Care Surgery fellowship at Vanderbilt University. In many ways, Vandy was the antithesis of the University of Utah: high-volume penetrating trauma, few transfers, older facilities, and considerably more… autonomy. It was also the only Level 1 trauma center for Nashville and the surrounding region. The weekend call nights covering trauma, emergency general surgery, and SICU often stretched the team to the margins of our capacity, but the learning opportunities were plentiful and invaluable. I spent less time than I would have liked enjoying the live music scene, but I did manage to take a lot of photos my oldest daughter, Malin, in cute little cowboy boots.
By some combination of luck and persistent harassment (sorry Dr. Nirula), I found my way back to the University of Utah in the fall of 2020. My first office was magical, consisting of 2 semi-permanent walls that enclosed a corner of the antechamber to Dr. Nirula’s office in the old SOM building. Unfortunately, the motion sensor for the overhead lights was positioned outside of my office, and I found myself pitched into total darkness at random intervals. Luckily for me, my office was so small that I could fan the door to trigger the motion sensor without leaving my seat at the desk.
Despite these hardships, I have managed some small successes with my academic endeavors. I am the Associate Medical Director for our Emergency General Surgery service, working with Dr. Alexander Colonna to move our institution towards verification by the American College of Surgeons. I also serve on the Surgical Value Committee, collaborating on several quality-improvement programs within our department. Last year I was selected to join the 2024 cohort of the SUS/AAS JUMPSTART program, which aims to advance diversity in surgical leadership. And this past summer, in collaboration with my co-research, Dr. Teresa Bell, I secured my first grant from the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma. I am very excited about the multidisciplinary research this grant will support, and I hope it will have a meaningful impact on the way we care for our head-injured patients.
In recent years the greatest and most joyful moments have come at home. In 2022 and 2025 we added a second (Eira) and third (Auden) daughter to the mix, ensuring a future of quiet evenings and civil conversations for years to come. Malin is now a 3rd-grader in the Spanish-immersion program at William Penn, a member of the Nessies swim team, and trains with the Snowbird Devos ski team during the winter. Eira, 3 years, is showing aptitude as a potential enforcer/bouncer. Her brute force keeps her older sister at bay while her stubbornness (usually for chocolate milk) frequently brings her parents to their knees. Auden is the typical 3rd child; calm, not easily bothered or upset, and always full of smiles. My wife, Jen, and I are settling (ungracefully) into middle age. The race to the first knee replacement has us in a dead-heat, and our closet has swelled with various devices aimed at keeping us up and moving (heating pads, icing machines, bottles of NSAIDS, etc.). Though I don’t believe either of us have slept through the night in several years, the unbridled joy and innocence of this stage have far outweighed the many, many challenges. We’ve done our best to keep engaged with the activities we loved before children, forcing them to boat with us during the summer, ski with us during the winter, and travel with us to Mexico each year for 4 days of Brandi Carlile concerts amid a sea of mullets.
The personal successes – career, family, mullet-clad weekend-warrior – are only possible because of the support I’ve received from my family at the University of Utah. From my co-residents to my dad-joke-loving colleagues to our amazing UTES APCs and invaluable administrative staff, I have been luckier than I could have ever hoped to work with such an extraordinaire group of individuals. I would do this all over again in a heartbeat.
Sarah
