As the UQ-Ochsner MD program is about to celebrate the graduation of its 1,000th doctor, we’re taking a look back at some of the pioneering graduates who helped shape the program’s legacy.
In this series, we connect with members of the inaugural class cohorts to hear about their journeys—both during and after their time in the program. From their motivations for choosing UQ-Ochsner, to where their careers have taken them today, these stories offer insights and inspiration for current and future doctors.
In this Q&A, we speak with Dr Steven Sushinsky of the Class of 2012 who shares his experiences on how the program has shaped is life and medical practice.
Please tell us a bit about yourself...
I grew up in Rockville, Maryland, and went to the University of Notre Dame for College. I worked at the Washington Hospital Center Cardiovascular Research Institute for a few years after college, and then applied to the UQ Medical School while working in DC.
Why did you decide to pursue your medical career at UQ-Ochsner?
My wife is a conservation biologist, and was in contact with a professor at UQ and looking at the Biology Graduate school there for her master's and she encouraged me to apply to UQ in addition to the US medical schools I had applied to.
After I applied to UQ, they notified me that the international quotient of the medical school class was full, but they had just formalized plans for the UQ-Ochsner program, and I was eligible. It was a perfect match, as I wanted to return to the US after med school to practice here, and this would give me the chance to work in both systems and get the crucial medical experience at a well-respected hospital system in the United States that residency programs are looking for.
Where do you practice medicine now and in what speciality?
I am in Denver, Colorado, and I practice full spectrum Family Medicine at Clinica Family Health, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) north of Denver. This includes prenatal care, labor and delivery, newborn care, pediatrics, adolescent medicine, adult medicine, geriatrics, both inpatient and outpatient, and do a variety of clinical procedures.
What were some of the highlights about the UQ-Ochsner MD program?
The relationships you form with classmates and the long-term friends you develop as you navigate the challenges of medical school and then further on into residency and early practice. I know I have friends I can call (and regularly do) to ask clinical questions or general life advice.
Having 2 years in Australia, which is long enough that you get to see the country, but also short enough that you know you need to prioritize doing the touristy things as well so that you don't lose that opportunity to see a very cool culture and country.
Steven exploring outback Australia while at medical school in Brisbane.
Where did you match and why did you choose your speciality?
I matched at Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver, in Family Medicine. I chose family medicine after doing most of my third-year rotations at Ochsner. I was not aware that Family Medicine as a career was an option, as, in the area on the East Coast where I grew up it was not strongly represented.
I enjoyed internal medicine, and the clinical puzzles and the time it gave you to see a person improve over the course of their hospital stay. I enjoyed the hands-on nature of surgery, though I was acutely aware that a surgical career was not in my future. I loved Obstetrics and thought strongly of following that pathway in residency, and I enjoyed pediatrics as well.
Just before I started my last rotation of third year (Family Medicine with Dr Marek), my sister and brother-in-law came to visit New Orleans for a conference. I knew he was a doctor, but didn't know him that well, as I had been out of the country for a long while and they lived in Chicago. We went out to have a hurricane at Pat O'Brien's and I explained my conundrum. I liked all the aspects of medicine I had encountered so far. He looked at me and asked if I knew what he did. He then explained what family medicine was, and how he did full spectrum family medicine in Chicago and had also gotten C-section privileges through an obstetrical fellowship post residency.
From then on, I was focused on family medicine and my rotation with Dr Marek immediately following sealed the deal.
How do you think the UQ-Ochsner program shaped the doctor you are today?
One of my biggest frustrations with working in a FQHC, is that over half of our patients do not have insurance, and the ones that do, primarily have Medicaid, which specialists can decline to accept. This is unacceptable in my opinion. Because of their immigration or financial status, the patients that I care for do not have equal access to healthcare, medications, diagnostic testing, and specialist treatment.
At the same time, I am seeing patients that have work sponsored insurance or have health insurance through the government marketplace being financially squeezed by ever increasing premiums, deductibles, and excuses to not cover care from their insurance companies. It leaves many patients forgoing recommended tests, rationing medications, and avoiding their regular visits, to the detriment of their health. Our current healthcare model adds burden to both patients and physicians as we need to persuade companies to provide the assistance in covering healthcare costs that they were designed to do... it's a real struggle for me and my patients, and something that requires a lot of physician advocacy and time.
I believe it was important to get the experience of medicine in another country, particularly a country with universal healthcare, and the option to enhance that universal healthcare with private insurance. During my rural rotation with Dr Vincent Cornellise in Biggenden, he walked me through some of the pros and cons of the system, but coming from the United States, where regrettably universal access to healthcare is not a given, I think it's a much better system than we have here in the United States.
