I was always interested in devoting my life to serving others. When I was in college, my mom became very sick – and all I could think was, “Why did this happen? How can I prevent this from happening to someone else?” That was the point at which I decided to channel my desire to serve others into becoming a physician.

In medical school, I was able to touch all kinds of specialties – but internal medicine was my home base. Whatever else may be going on with our patients’ health, their continuity of care begins and ends with us. That means it’s incredibly important to focus on who my patients are as people – so it’s fortunate that I truly enjoy spending time with, and getting to know, others.

One important way I build relationships with patients is making sure they know they’re heard and understood, and that their concerns are addressed. I also take care to educate patients, and help them educate themselves, about lifestyle choices they can make to prevent chronic, long-term disease. If people know the right thing to do – without feeling judged – they tend to be much more motivated to want to do it. I encourage my patients not to get discouraged or lose hope about any health condition they might have, because there are so many things we can do to help them move forward.

When I’m not working, I love hiking outdoors, watching movies, trying new foods and spending time around animals of all kinds.