As I round on my first year practicing back home I would like to reflect on the short time I have been back and the pleasure I have had to aid in the medical care on the community. The journey to become a podiatrist started during my senior year at South Anchorage High School via King Career Center, which allowed me to shadow Dr. Swayman. During the year I identified that podiatry would be a great career and would be a rewarding path for a young kid. After I graduated high school I left Alaska for twelve years. Four years at EWU, four years at the New York College of Podiatric Medicine, three years in residency in Binghamton, NY, and then an additional year of fellowship training at the North Jersey Reconstructive Foot and Ankle Fellowship.
These experiences have shaped me into the confident podiatric surgeon that I am today. Along the journey, I have had some highlights which I would like to share. During my residency training, I had the opportunity to spend six months at the Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics (RIAO) at the Foot and Ankle surgical department and the International Center for Limb Lengthening, (ICLL). This was an amazing exposure to pediatric orthopedic deformities, revision surgeries from referred patients, foot and ankle reconstruction, and application of external fixation. During this time my training excelled and was able to distinguish myself from my fellow residents earning me the Excellence in Resident Performance Award, given to one of the four residents in my graduating class. After finishing my residency I went on the further my education at the North Jersey Reconstructive Foot and Ankle Fellowship. This training specialized in the application of external fixation in the correction of multiplanar deformity, the treatment of trauma, and reconstruction of Charcot neuroarthropathy (Charcot Foot) deformities.
One of the strong motivators I had to pursue a fellowship was not only to advance my training, but also to be able to bring that training back to Alaska and help use these acquired skills to help treat my future patient, family, and friends in the town I grew up in, Anchorage, Alaska. I look forward to serving Anchorage, Alaska in all matters of the foot and ankle and being able to apply to skills and knowledge I have acquired in the last 8 years I have dedicated to podiatry.