Interview with Jennifer Fredericks, MD

How did your background or early experiences influence your path toward EM?

I actually did not know that I wanted to go into emergency medicine until my rotation in EM during my clinical years as a medical student at USF. I remember going to my EM rotation, and every day was different and exciting because there were so many different patient presentations, and that was when I knew that I wanted to do emergency medicine. I also had supportive faculty and residents that I worked during my rotation. I ended up getting involved in a research project with one of the residents, which also helped to continue my interest in emergency medicine and the USF program. 

What drew you to USF and do you have any favorite aspects of your training or favorite memories?

What initially drew me to the program at USF was the quality of education that they offered. The program has a strong foundation in ultrasound training, which I really wanted to be proficient with in my day-to-day work. Also, training at USF Tampa General Hospital offered exposure to trauma, burn, transplant, stroke, and other unique health conditions. 

One of my favorite memories was a patient experience. I was involved in the care of a pediatric patient. I was in the emergency department when she arrived as a trauma alert, where she had multiple injuries and had to be intubated. From there, she had a long recovery, but my rotations throughout the hospital seemed to keep connecting me with her. I saw her in the pediatric ICU and then again when she was out of the ICU onto the floor and starting her rehab. It was an uplifting experience to see first-hand why we do what we do. Of course, I have great memories of our times together as residents. I loved our parties at our residency director’s house when we initiated new resident teams for team bonding!

How did USF’s training environment prepare you for real-world practice?

That is easy. After training in the USF program, you are pretty much prepared to see anything. The large breadth of specialties offered at USF Tampa General Hospital means that you see high acuity patients who have a wide range of pathology. 

We also learned quite a bit about the business of emergency medicine, which was unique to get that kind of background when I trained. 

You’ve stayed connected to the university and department over the years. What inspires you to do that?

During COVID, I leaned on the faculty at USF and my former Resident class to research what other emergency physicians were doing at their hospitals for the issues we were experiencing. After COVID, when things settled down a bit, I needed something to remind me of why I went into medicine. I found this inspiration through working with the ISF medical students. I became a volunteer faculty member to teach Doctoring 2. I also joined the mentoring program for students interested in pursuing a career in EM and assisted at orientation. I have furthered these experiences through my involvement with the MCOM alumni board.  

What’s one challenge you’ve faced as an EM provider that taught you something valuable?

COVID. Working through COVID taught me the importance of teamwork within my own department, as well as with my colleagues. We worked to develop processes to safely care for patients with COVID, and it was evident that we needed to work closely as a team between physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, environmental services, lab and radiology services, all involved in the care of our patients in the ED.