Essential Wisdom

Help me welcome Dr. Jennifer Berumen! Dr. Berumen is a surgeon who practices Abdominal Transplantation including liver, kidney, and pancreas transplantation as well as hepatobiliary surgery at University of California San Diego, Jacobs Medical Center. She earned her medical degree from Tulane University, and attended residency training at UC San Diego. She went on to complete her fellowship training in Abdominal Transplantation at Stanford University, with a focus on pediatric liver and kidney transplantation before returning to UCSD on faculty. Her clinical and research interests include pediatric transplantation and clinical research, medical student and resident education, enjoying San Diego, and traveling. 

Help me welcome Dr. Christine Van Cott. Dr. Van Cott practices General Surgery and Hepatopancreaticobiliary (HPB) Surgery at Saint Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, CT, where she is the chief of general surgery and director of acute care trauma services. She is a mom to two boys and has been married for 16 years. She is the Surgical Clerkship Director and a Professor of Surgery at the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine. Dr. Van Cott earned her MD at State University of New York at Buffalo and completed General Surgery residency at Hospital of St. Raphael, New Haven, CT. She went on to complete a fellowship in HPB Surgery at Auckland City Hospital, New Zealand. Dr. Van Cott leads the Netter SOM Surgery Interest Group with great success. Having served as a faculty mentor for this group since its creation, she has helped gather volumes of medical students throughout the four years of school for panels, networking events, volunteer projects, and shadowing opportunities. She is dedicated to helping medical students achieve what they are passionate about, and assists in providing opportunities for mentorship to students beginning on day-one. 

Dr. Lauren Kane practices as a Congenital Cardiac Surgeon at The Heart Center at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, University of Central Florida. Dr. Kane attended medical school at the University of Texas Houston and completed General Surgery Residency at University of Texas Southwestern Dallas. Following this she went on to complete a fellowship in Cardiothoracic Surgery at Emory University, and fellowship in Congenital Heart Surgery at University of Southern California at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. She has served as faculty at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio and Baylor College of Medicine before her current position at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. Dr. Kane serves as the President of the Women in Thoracic Surgery organization, is active in the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, Southern Thoracic Surgical Association, and was recently awarded the Carolyn Reed Traveling Scholarship, during which she gathered international surgical experience in her travels to India, Japan and England. Dr. Kane is chair of the patient education website for Society of Thoracic Surgeons and enjoys participating in the education of both patients and physicians.  

Dr. Nancy Nekvasil currently serves as the Interim President of Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN. She holds BS in biology from New Mexico State University and PhD in Biology from the University of Notre Dame and has served for 35 years as faculty, chair of the biology department, and as Health Professions advisor, among many other things at Saint Mary’s College. She has designed and instructed a wide variety of courses, a few of which include “Physiology of women”, “Pathophysiology”, “General Physiology”, “Medical Terminology” and “Research in Biology”. Her research interests include women in stem, physiology education, and pathophysiology. Dr. Nekvasil has a heart for helping college-aged women learn, grow, and achieve. The fruits of her dedication are felt among women across decades that have had the opportunity to learn in her courses and in special situations to be advised by her.

Additional Show Notes:
Website: https://www.essentialwisdominspiringphysicians.com/
IG: @inspiringessentialwisdom
Podcast Site: http://essentialwisdom.buzzsprout.com/

Dr. Rizk practices as a Breast Surgeon at Saint Francis Hospital, Hartford, CT, where she is also the Director of the Comprehensive Women’s Health Center. She is a graduate of the University of Rochester, where she earned her B.S. in Neuroscience. She went on to receive her M.D. at SUNY Upstate Medical Center, completed General Surgery Residency at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, and a fellowship in Breast Disease at Brown University Women and Infant’s Hospital, Rhode Island. Dr. Rizk is truly passionate and caring about her work and patients. In her 13 years of practice she has served as faculty at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, SUNY Stony Brook, an St. Francis Hospital. She is dedicated to empowering her patients and their wellness as individuals. Dr. Rizk was featured as a commentator for breast health on Fox News in 2014 and 2015, and contributed a chapter to the book “Surviving Cancer: Our Voices and Our Choices”. To name just a few of her clinical interests, she is interested in breast cancer treatment, nipple-sparing mastectomy, and breast conservation. 

Dr. Jhunja practices as an outpatient Internal Medicine physician in Bloomfield and Wethersfield, CT. She earned her medical degree at the University of West Indies - St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad, West Indies and completed her residency in Internal Medicine at St. Vincent's Medical Center, Bridgeport, CT. Dr. Jhunja and I came to know one another through the Quinnipiac University Medical Student Home Program which provides a primary care experience during the first and second medical school years. She’s interested in Integrated and Holistic Medicine and plays piano in her free time. 

Dr. Scierka is a second year internal medicine resident at Yale New Haven Hospital in the Yale Primary Care Program. She’s received her MD in 2017 from Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University and MPH in Health Policy and Management at New York Medical College in 2013. She has been an accomplished clinical research manager and project coordinator, with experience in cardiac electrophysiology clinical outcomes studies. Her interests include preventative cardiology and improving cardiovascular outcomes at the primary care level. Dr. Scierka lives in New Haven, CT with her fiancé Kamil and pup Lola. I am so excited to start off our show with this interview. Dr. Scierka has been a major mentor and friend to me since my first year at Quinnipiac University, and she is an absolute joy and gift to have on the show. 

Welcome to Essential Wisdom: Inspiring Future Female Physicians. Join me on Monday's and Thursday's through the month of June and July as we explore the stories, advice, joys, and challenges of being a woman physician.