Alison

Swartz

MD

Hometown: Tucson, Arizona

Undergraduate: University of Arizona

Medical School: Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

Why did you choose VUMC emergency medicine? Vanderbilt feels like home! I had a fantastic time here as a medical student and always felt like the Emergency Department at VUMC is where I learned the most. It means the world to be in a place where patient care comes first and where I also have complete certainty that I will graduate with the skills I need to be a phenomenal clinician. This community is kind, endlessly supportive, and opportunities to grow as a clinician, educator, and scientist are endless.

Interests in emergency medicine: I am passionate about academic medicine and hope to have a career balancing education, research, and clinical work.

Five year plan: I plan to pursue a fellowship after residency (maybe research, maybe something else) and after that move into a faculty position wherever my husband can find a job he likes.

If not EM, what? I worked as a pharmacy technician for several years and initially thought I would become a pharmacist. I ended up falling in love with medicine instead, but I still have a lot of love for pharmacology. I think in a different world where my mentors hadn’t encouraged me to consider medicine I most definitely would have become a pharmacist. I have lots of love for our pharmacy colleagues!

Hobbies: I love playing board and tabletop games with my friends and husband Brandon, paddle boarding, running, playing video games (Factorio is my big obsession right now), and good old-fashioned movie nights.