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I went to medical school at St. Georges University School of Medicine in Grenada in the West Indies. I did a surgical rotation in Aylesbury, England, and then an obstetrics rotation in London. I did general medicine rotations in Baltimore and residency in Pittsburgh at Allegheny General, then a fellowship at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
When I worked in Baltimore, I was in an inner-city hospital. I saw a large population of IV drug users and HIV-positive patients. 75% of patients were HIV-positive in 1998. That was back when HIV treatments were not as readily available and advanced as they are now. My preceptor in Baltimore was an infectious disease doctor, so his knowledge and experience drew me to that. I look at the patients I see as puzzles. I like that I see people in a very vulnerable state, and I can help them. Most of my patients are not chronically ill, so I help them get from very sick to much better in a short amount of time. Infectious disease medicine is constantly changing, and it’s challenging because you have to understand how microbiology and organisms affect the entire body. I enjoy that my field is constantly evolving: new vaccines are always coming out, and researchers are always finding new ways of fighting infections.
When I was looking for jobs, I saw a posting that said, “Great Lakes Opportunity.” It was an advertisement for a job at Firelands Regional Medical Center. My wife is from Strongsville, and she wanted to move closer to her family. We both liked the small town and community feel of this area. I knew I didn’t want to work in a large city - I wanted a community.
Years ago, Firelands had a physician who did some infectious disease medicine, but when I was recruited, they did not have anyone in infectious disease. The staff and other physicians were excited to have me, but they really had to learn how best to utilize my specialty. In the last ten years, Firelands have evolved when it comes to infectious diseases. I am still the only infectious disease physician on staff and the only one between Toledo and Cleveland, but as Firelands has grown, my role has grown. Firelands truly offers quality specialty medicine in a way that makes this the perfect place to receive all your care.
