As we grow, each of us develops a sense of who we are and what we hope to accomplish with our lives. That sense, or vision for our lives, is refined over time by our experiences and the self-knowledge we acquire along the way, and is limited only by the bounds of our imaginations and our willingness to take risks.

Growing up as the eldest of 6 boys in a Catholic family in a suburb of Chicago, I enjoyed being an altar boy, participating in community volunteer activities, and babysitting for my brothers, which lead everyone (including me) to believe I would one day become a priest. I liked sports, and in high school learned that I enjoyed being part of a team that could accomplished something far greater than I could ever do on my own. I also discovered girls and lost my calling to the priesthood, but never forgot the sense of worth and accomplishment I got from community volunteer activities, which I continued through my college and medical school years. During my senior year as an emergency medicine resident, I realized that I derived more pleasure from teaching those with less experience how to care for patients, than I did from providing that care myself. When I was offered a faculty position upon graduation, I accepted it. Two years later, I was offered the opportunity to come to Harbor to serve as the residency director, and jumped at the chance to live on the West Coast and be a teacher and big brother figure for residents training at an overcrowded and underfunded public hospital committed to caring for the working poor.

Several years later, two things happened: the department chair left and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors considered closing Harbor in an effort to help balance its budget, which made recruiting a new chair extremely difficult. Following an unsuccessful search, I was offered the position. I initially declined because I was happy and personally fulfilled in my position as residency director, but later accepted the position when the former department chair (and my best friend) convinced me that I might enjoy the position if I viewed myself as “the residency director for the faculty” and focused on helping them develop their careers in exchange for their commitment to help me run the department’s teaching, research and patient care programs. I focused on recruiting strong faculty, who would attract strong residents, hoping that, together, they would help me accomplish my goal of creating "a department with teaching and research programs on par with major universities within one of the most overcrowded and underfunded public hospital systems in America."

That was 20 years ago, and my best friend was right. I have been fortunate in recruiting outstanding faculty who work diligently to pursue their own visions for what they hope to accomplish within the field of Emergency Medicine. They have been amazingly successful, made me proud, and helped me realize my goal. I am the big brother of a large family, the captain of a very successful team comprised of individuals (residents, fellows and faculty) who are all much more talented than myself, and I take pride in my role of coordinating their collective efforts to provide excellent medical care to our patients, to teach and help each other grow as professionals, and to contribute to the continued development of our specialty. The vision of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center is now the collective vision of the members of our professional family.