Introduction to Brandi

These are my kids: Mazie, 9 and Vivian, 7. Mazie is the one dressed as a garnet (that was for school). I am a wife and a mother of two...and a med student as well. When Allison told me she was starting this blog, I told her that I wished we'd done something like this right off the bat. On reflection, though, I don't know if I would have been ready to share. It has taken me a full three years to get my sea-legs, and I still can't say for certain I have sea-legs at all. There are several things I do know: One, I am incredibly grateful to be where I am now. I love taking care of patients, and I love learning to practice medicine. I feel engaged with my work as I rarely have before. Two, my kids are fine without my constant attention. It turns out that they need periodic attention from me, but that they thrive under a variety of circumstances and caretakers (my husband primary among them). Three, this is a team effort. We are Team Gunn, and my husband is my partner in all I do. Without him, none of this would have been possible. This isn't just lip-service; he is the backbone. Four, I am in a wonderful learning environment. I have learned to become a professional by watching professionals. The value of a place is not its name but its people. Emory people are, on the whole, dedicated to excellence, to patient care, to teaching, to service, and to leadership. My eyes used to glaze over when reading a sentence like that one, and maybe yours just did because it is strangely reminiscent of a commercial. But I have to tell you that every quality I listed has at least three specific experiences behind it to back it up...and that is part of what I want to write about in this forum. I am interested in what makes a culture. It's people in aggregate, but what leads the culture comes from a smaller subset, I think. I am excited to explore all this and more, and especially excited about hearing from the rest of the contributors. Til then, keep it human.