I have been on both sides of the bed, as both a patient and a doctor. My journey into healthcare began in college when I was diagnosed with stage IV Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, receiving two years of chemotherapy to successfully treat it. I knew then that I wanted to jump right in to healthcare and help others, and went to Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine, followed by a residency in pediatrics at the University of Chicago. I practiced as a pediatrician for 11 years. While on the faculty of the University of Chicago, I focused heavily on medical education, especially how to teach professionalism to young medical students. After a few years of increasing frustration with the way modern medicine must be practiced, I left medicine altogether in 2012 to pursue a different career.
Since that time, I've been back in the patient role several times, receiving treatment for both heart failure and breast cancer. And, it's shown me that, for the same reasons I left medicine, it's also hard to be a patient in today's healthcare landscape.
​With all this behind me, I launched the Dr. Patient podcast because I've learned first hand how important the relationship between a patient and their provider is, and how it informs the way that medical care is both delivered and received. One of the main ways to repair it is to understand each other as well as we can. I'll be telling my and others' patient stories through the lens of a doctor.
- Heather
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