I have worked for over three years in Cardiology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital managing the at-home remote monitoring of patients with pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD), and implantable loop recorders (ILR.) As the Remote Coordinator, I was responsible for triaging routine to emergent device interrogations. The Arrhythmia Services at the Brigham is comprised of some of the best electrophysiologists and supporting staff and I am forever grateful for the learning opportunities they provided for me. I have experience with interrogating devices in clinic as well as procedures in the EP lab such as device implants, EP studies, and ablations. I have worked closely with industry vendors such as Medtronic, St. Jude Medical, Boston Scientific, and Biotronik to manage device recalls, launch new products and I was frequently called upon to provide feedback to improve their products’ application.

In addition to my responsibilities to the Arrhythmia Services, I obtained additional certification to preform wound care, administer EKGs and collect other various cardiac vitals. Preforming wound care on post-operative patients for the Department of Vascular Surgery filled my desire for working hands on with patients. I was fortunate to work with surgeons and physicians assistants who provided teaching opportunities whenever possible and I learned tremendously about carotid artery disease, abdominal and aortic aneurysms, and other various vascular diseases. Many of our patients were on dialysis and had advanced disease states resulting in amputations and difficult medical decisions. I devoted extra time visiting patients during inpatient admissions and I even visited patients at their homes. It is only through experiences like these that allowed me to truly appreciate the whole picture of healthcare and the services we were providing.

Aside from my job at the hospital by day, I furthered my education and completed three years of pre-medical classes at the Harvard University Extension School by night.

I also became involved with various organizations within the hospital. I was a sub-committee member in the BWH Young Professionals Organizations and helped plan events which brought together senior hospital leaders and aspiring young professionals. I volunteered and became an ambassador for the United Way. I was asked to be a motivational keynote speaker for ClimbAmerica – an organization raising awareness of cardiovascular disease. As Partners Healthcare transitioned the electronic medical records system to Epic, I invested in the opportunity and became a certified Epic Super User and proctored training for others learning the new software.

The Brigham and Women’s Hospital, being a teaching facility of Harvard Medical School, attracted some of the most prestigious individuals in the healthcare industry. I was able to take advantage of many presentations and guest lectures such as Atul Gawande, a surgeon who is improving healthcare outcomes by implementing checklists, and Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary, who judged pitches for a healthcare innovation competition.

With much difficulty, I decided to leave the Brigham to partake on a once in a lifetime opportunity to travel and backpack Europe. While I learned all sorts of things about medicine and healthcare working here, what I really learned is this: life is short. Live every day to the fullest. It was very hard to leave this place because I loved my job, the people I was working with and I was thriving in an environment that’s not cut out for everyone. But when you talk with people who are literally on their deathbed, you get a true sense of how one must make decisions

in life. I am grateful for their advice and everything else the Brigham and Women’s Hospital left me with.