Models and Mentors
In Conversation with Andrew Patterson, MD, PhD
Andrew Patterson, MD, PhD is an Associate Professor of Anesthesia and 2001 recipient of the H. Barrie Fairley Excellence in Teaching Award. He earned his M.D. at Emory University in 1991 and his Ph.D. in Neurosciences at Stanford in 2002. Aside from teaching, Dr. Patterson practices in the ICU at Stanford and is an active researcher.
His research interests include: Adrenergic Receptors, Congestive Heart Failure, Vascular Biology, Cardiopulmonary Physiology, Molecular Biology, and Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Patterson also spends time abroad in Guatemala, Southern Peru, Honduras, Ecuador, Bolivia and Rwanda providing health care for underprivileged children and adults.
What led you into medicine and research at Stanford?
While doing my MD training at Emory, I was interested in Internal Medicine. Then I started doing molecular biology research on heart failure functions. When I was doing my residency and fellowship at Mass General, I decided that I wanted to do a PhD and continue pursuing my research interests. I was recruited to come to Stanford by Brian Kobilka to work in a cellular and molecular physiology lab. So for six years I worked part-time in clinics -- Intensive Care, Medicine, Surgery and Trauma -- and in grad school while I had my lab. And I’ve been here teaching and doing research ever since.
How has your career at Stanford evolved over the past ten years?
I knew that I wanted to do critical care since I was in medical school, so that hasn’t changed. It’s mostly evolved at a slower pace than what I had expected.
What is it like working in Critical Care? What do you enjoy most about this part of your job?
The ICU is a high intensity environment. There is never a dull moment or downtime. I’m always teaching, practicing, or taking care of families and helping them through traumatic experiences. The converse is that it can be exhausting. It’s definitely more work than I envisioned -- with four to five hours of sleep a night.
There’s also the fact that there are a lot of patients that you can’t save. But, some you can, and that’s the most rewarding thing you can do. I also have a great multi-disciplinary team with a great leader who leads by example. I’m also always challenged by the residents, so I don’t get rusty.
You’ve earned an excellent teaching reputation. How do you balance your teaching interests with your research and clinical practice?
It’s a constant struggle, but teaching is a high priority for me. If you want the profession to change, you have to do it by teaching the next generation. And I feel that academic medicine needs to change in order to attract the top people. You have to pass the torch, so I’ve been teaching since my residency and chief residency.
Describe your international health work and motivates you to work abroad.
Ever since high school, I’ve been involved in service work and always knew that I wanted to work internationally. When I came to Stanford I started volunteering with Interplast and would make several trips a year to Central and South America to provide free reconstructive surgeries for children and adults.
It was great because not only are you providing services to people who are in need and very appreciative, but you meet physicians from all over the world. You work side by side with a surgeon from Holland, and anesthesiologist from Turkey. It’s great!
And once you go on a few of these trips, you start getting referred to others. So I’ve been a Team Leader for Hospital de La Familia and Medical Missions for Children for several years now. The hardest part now has been limiting the number of trips I make each year.
Do you ever take students abroad? What is the best way for interested student to get involved in your international work?
Every year -- undergraduates, medical students and residents. I give priority to students who work in my lab, but I always keep a waiting list of students who are interested. However, with my international work, it is critical that I bring students who are resourceful and excellent problem solvers. I need the kind of people who can make a piece of tubing into an anesthesia machine.
How do your experiences abroad relate to your work at Stanford?
You gain a real sense of appreciation for what you have here. It’s amazing how appreciate the patients that I work with abroad are. We are so lucky to have what we do here. It really puts the ICU in perspective. You also realize that it’s easy to be good at what you do in a quaternary care center, but it’s hard to be good in a jungle.
What advice do you have for medical students considering careers in community or international health?
Stick with it even if you can’t break in easily. Do a good job and be a team player and you’ll find that the hierarchy in medicine disappears—everyone does everything. Earn the reputation of being a hard worker and someone who is resilient and tough. This is critical in international health work.
Any other words of wisdom for medical students facing major career and work/life decisions?
Have fun and nurture your personal life. I’ve spent a lot of time training for triathlons and now share that pleasure with my six-year-old son who is training for his first.
Posted: 07/11/06
