(soft piano music)
- I knew of Akron, but honestly,
I hadn't been to Akron until I interviewed here.
You know, the thing I really knew about Akron,
like everybody else, is the basketball and LeBron. (laughs)
- I remember coming here for my interview, parking,
walking into the parking deck, and seeing random people
that I didn't know, they all said, "Hello."
Everyone just welcomed me.
- Anybody who comes in from somewhere else,
within two hours of being in our institution,
feels that friendliness and that culture.
- [Speaker] Even among children's hospitals,
Akron Children's is unique.
- Collaboration here at Akron Children's is more
than just talk.
It is truly a way of life.
- Honestly, for me, I see diversity and acceptance
and, you know, interacting with people
that are different from yourself.
I see it on a daily basis.
- The spirit of Akron is one of friendliness
and one of community.
And there really is a feeling that we're all
in this together.
- Yeah, this is my first job out of training.
I thought that I would just kind of come here
and get my feet wet and then move on,
but I don't really wanna go yet. (laughs)
- We're a busy hospital,
and we're getting better at our jobs everyday
because we have such high volumes
while having high acuity.
- I was really surprised by the complexity of the cases
when I started here.
I thought I was coming to this little town,
and I was gonna have these just really basic,
run-of-the mill cases.
- I distinctly remember the first case I got was something
that I had never seen in residency.
I had never seen in fellowship.
- What is happening here?
This is not what I expected.
- And it really depended on me being able
to extrapolate what I knew how to treat
to this particular problem.
- It just was such a challenge,
that kind of challenge that you want in medicine.
(uplifting piano music)
- The fact that Akron Children's does have
a research mission and has academic affiliations
with local universities, as well as NEOMED,
the medical school in Northeastern Ohio,
was really critical for me.
- Trainees bring a level of energy and a level of curiosity
that I think keep all of us as physicians and providers
honest and current.
- It's fun.
And I think it's good to influence
the next generation of caregivers.
- I looked really not intending to consider it
as one of my top choices because it wasn't academic,
and when I got here, I was completely overwhelmed
in a great way of how incredible this institution really is.
The other thing that really intrigued me was
that their mission was to really become more
of a presence in the academic world and to be a part
of building that.
It's pretty phenomenal.
- Teaching in a clinical setting,
you wouldn't match that anywhere else.
(uplifting piano music)
- I sacrificed nothing to leave a larger institute
and come to Akron as a freestanding hospital.
In fact, it was quite the opposite for me.
- We often get people mid-career who have spent time
in pediatric institutions within an adult system.
And to quote one,
"I'm just tired of always saying why kids are important."
- That feeds into the culture
because then you don't get that burnout from trying
to fight for things over and over and over again,
you don't get broken down,
you don't feel like you are not being heard.
- And it's one
of the most exciting conversations we can have
when we meet with a young person
or an early career physician
or nurse practitioner who has ideas and thoughts
about how they can bring value to our organization.
And those are the folks,
those are the conversations who help drive
the way that we think.
- When people are interested in you thriving
because we realize that when you thrive,
the patients thrive.
- Quality projects, education, research.
There's a lot of opportunities for growth here.
- Akron Children's really did check all the boxes
that I was looking for in terms of leadership,
in terms of support,
the connection with our academic affiliates,
and really a nice place to raise our family.
- Since I've been here, I've been realizing that
as I make the list of what I'm looking for in that dream job
and what I would leave here to try to find,
there's no reason to leave because it's all here.
- You know, I know it's my first job out of fellowship,
and I hope it's my last job out of fellowship
because I love it.
- This is definitely not a stepping stone in my career.
Many of my colleagues,
this is where we see ourselves spending the rest
of our career.
- It would honestly be the best choice that you could make.
I can't imagine being anywhere else.
- So when people find out where I work,
it makes me completely awash with pride.
And as an example of that,
my husband and I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro,
and we brought the Akron Children's flag with us,
and we flew it at the summit.
And that's how proud I am to work here.