Career Path
I had many different jobs while at Emory. It was my school, and my employer. I worked in the library, I was a kitchen manager, a research assistant, a psychiatric counselor (my highest paying job). The job that set my career path though, was as an anesthesia tech at Emory Hospital. It allowed me the ability to watch the doctors and all the different operations.
I saw these doctors doing facial reconstruction, and I thought that was super cool, and it was very much like model building, which I loved in my childhood. The path was set. I went to the doctors and inquired on how I could wind up doing that important work. They told me, in order to become a maxillofacial surgeon, I would have to go to Dental school first as a prerequisite, as you can not rebuild a face without the understanding of functionality of the moving parts. This was it, I applied and got into Emory Dental School. After 4 years I applied to a combined program from New York medical college & Westchester medical center in Valhalla N.Y. I got in and finished my degree in 1988. As chief resident at Westchester, I graduated at 32 years of age. I came to Stamford and applied for privileges at Stamford Hospital.