Dr. Tamara Kahn Rice '84
Q: When and how did you decide to pursue a career in healthcare?
A: I have been very happy with my choice of a career in healthcare, although my path was not a direct one. After majoring in marketing in college, it became clear to me that medicine was my calling. I think watching my father’s busy career as a cardiac surgeon made me hesitant at first to choose that path. However, once I finished medical school and found Anesthesiology as a specialty, I could not be happier. I give Indian Springs School credit for teaching me how to study and do well in school, which has allowed me to have the career and life I have.
Q: How has your work changed during the COVID-19 pandemic?
A: My practice has sure felt different since the Covid-19 pandemic. While we always practice universal precautions and utilize personal protective equipment, there is a significant level of added stress when all of a sudden, the job of Anesthesiologist is a high risk for contaminating yourself with a deadly virus or bringing it home to your family. I have been very thankful that my community in Grand Junction, Colorado, has not had a bad outbreak. I watch the doctors and nurses in New York City and hear their stories, and my heart goes out to them. They are truly performing battlefield medicine, which most of us in medicine did not anticipate.
Q: What advice would you give to Springs students who want to pursue a career in healthcare?
A: My advice to Indian Springs students who want to pursue a career in healthcare is that it is a very rewarding experience. Springs has prepared you well. You don’t have to be a science major if you don’t want to. You can have a small practice with a simple lifestyle, or you can go big and change the world, inventing a vaccine to prevent the next scary disease.
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A: I have been very happy with my choice of a career in healthcare, although my path was not a direct one. After majoring in marketing in college, it became clear to me that medicine was my calling. I think watching my father’s busy career as a cardiac surgeon made me hesitant at first to choose that path. However, once I finished medical school and found Anesthesiology as a specialty, I could not be happier. I give Indian Springs School credit for teaching me how to study and do well in school, which has allowed me to have the career and life I have.
Q: How has your work changed during the COVID-19 pandemic?
A: My practice has sure felt different since the Covid-19 pandemic. While we always practice universal precautions and utilize personal protective equipment, there is a significant level of added stress when all of a sudden, the job of Anesthesiologist is a high risk for contaminating yourself with a deadly virus or bringing it home to your family. I have been very thankful that my community in Grand Junction, Colorado, has not had a bad outbreak. I watch the doctors and nurses in New York City and hear their stories, and my heart goes out to them. They are truly performing battlefield medicine, which most of us in medicine did not anticipate.
Q: What advice would you give to Springs students who want to pursue a career in healthcare?
A: My advice to Indian Springs students who want to pursue a career in healthcare is that it is a very rewarding experience. Springs has prepared you well. You don’t have to be a science major if you don’t want to. You can have a small practice with a simple lifestyle, or you can go big and change the world, inventing a vaccine to prevent the next scary disease.
190 Woodward Drive, Indian Springs, Alabama 35124
Phone: 205.988.3350
Indian Springs School, an independent school recognized nationally as a leader in boarding and day education for grades 8-12, serves a talented and diverse student body and offers admission to qualified students regardless of race, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. Located in Indian Springs, Alabama, just south of Birmingham, the school does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or sexual orientation in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, or athletic and other school-administered programs.
© 2023 Indian Springs School. All Rights Reserved.
© 2023 Indian Springs School. All Rights Reserved.