Scoop of Practice Episode 1: Designing a Wound Career

Dysfunctional Belief: It’s my life, I have to design it myself.
Reframe: You live and design your life in collaboration with others.
—Designing Your Life, page 199

During my reflections on my Designing Your Life¹ immersion experience I referenced my mother’s great words of wisdom: “if you love your profession then it really isn’t work. If you put your best foot forward and work hard you can achieve miracles.”

Choosing to become a doctor was not a difficult decision at all. Perhaps growing up with a father whose passion in life was to study the inner workings of a car to fix a malfunction underlay my own fascinations with what is going on under the hood. My mother was a medical administrator and because of my parents’ examples as compassionate and dedicated life mentors, I am the person I am today. I also draw upon my work mentors as I travel along my odyssey. Many times I find myself seeking validation and guidance from my elders, mainly to figure out what not to do, and to find creative ways to navigate my professional challenges and difficult decisions.

As a wound specialist physician, I use the laying on of hands to determine the best treatment for my patients’ skin injuries. Within this practice, I have the personal satisfaction of seeing the results of my manual efforts to change the course of a non-healing wound with the ultimate goal of achieving the best possible outcome. Most importantly, caring for patients with a myriad of other chronic medical conditions is both challenging and rewarding due to the depth and breadth of my specialty.

My positive energy sources are activities that usually relate to me making something or being productive. From gardening to healing my patients’ skin issues, these activities are self-fulfilling and energize my soul. While my medical career quenches my desires to heal and make a difference in people’s lives, obtaining my MBA in health care will round out my professional goals of achieving the highest degree of excellence in education, research, service, and leadership. I plan to utilize the knowledge I acquire during the next 18 months of my MBA pursuit to make an impressionable difference in the healthcare industry at the grassroots level and nationally.

My aim is to disrupt the delivery of wound management by changing the model from fee for service/volume-centric to one that utilizes patient-focused outcomes to drive value—call it a cost efficient, time-centric paradigm. It is my mission to teach a man how to fish because he can feed himself and humanity forever with this knowledge: teaching the industry that quality care sits on the shoulders of a multidisciplinary team of health care professionals is the basis of this paradigm.

In this game of life, the journey is the reward. With every step there is uncertainty, but it is more about being accountable and the reveal after taking the first step. During my odyssey, I look to emulate anyone leading and living a humble life, interacting with their world gracefully. In my mind, the individual who can master the ability to silence the noise and transcend their existence will reach ethical and moral prowess. This ability to listen from within and learn “Who am I?” will propel me to become my best for the betterment of the group I am influencing and leading.

We should never stop creating and strengthening our moral circles. It is important to create positive connections with people since these connections are repositories for positive karmic energy, which we frequently need to draw upon to refill our souls, our energy meters, when we are running on empty and drained. Not every situation or circumstance may be easy to navigate but access to this “karmic bank account” makes for a smoother ride.

All these ideas considered, I am ready to embrace the rewarding challenges ahead of me, and I submit that I am filled with a passionate focus to become a high-touch graduate of the Daniels College of Business and a key opinion luminary in the wound care industry— I will complete my Odyssey Plan.

Traci A. Kimball, MD, CWSP – Traci A. Kimball is a Certified Wound Specialist Physician and Principal Managing Partner, WISH Expert Consulting LLP