Favorite Faculty: Corey Slovis, M.D.
Corey Slovis, M.D.
Emergency Medicine
In what ways do you work with medical students on campus? Which way is your favorite?
I get to teach emergency medicine to second, third, and fourth year students in our various medical school courses. I love the opportunity to try to teach an organized, and usually "5 step, 5 reason, 5 cause," approach to emergency situations. My favorite activity is watching our students develop confidence as they learn to master acid-base, cardiac arrest management and a 5-step approach to many different clinical situations.
How did you go about choosing your specialty? Any advice?
I was going to be an internist and did an Internal Medicine Residency, but I always felt differently when I rotated in the ED. I was both scared and excited by what I saw. Once I rode on the Grady ambulance after an ED shift, I was hooked on lights and sirens along with the specialty that receives those patients.
The best specialty for anyone is where you feel you belong – where the patients, diseases, residents, and faculty all feel like they match up best with your strengths, lifestyle, personality, and what type of patients you are most excited about helping.
Did you have any physicians you looked up to while training? How did they inspire you?
I had three faculty that I viewed as mentor-role models. Our Internal Medicine Residency Director at Grady Hospital, Ken Walker, taught me that patient care came before anything and everything else, that there were no excuses for not doing your best. Our Chairman, J. Willis Hurst, was a famous cardiologist who taught that being a physician was a lifestyle and not a job. He taught us that we needed to be lifelong learners, never complacent as new information and technology became available. Finally, our Chief of Trauma at Grady Hospital, Harlan Stone, inspired me based on his precise expectations of excellence in clinical practice – he embodied a sense of kaizen – of ever increasing excellence.
What are your favorite hobbies outside of medicine? Any advice on how to keep life balanced in medical school or with a medical career?
I run and do heated power flow yoga. I never thought yoga could kick one’s butt, but 60 minutes of intense exercise with a gentle ending got me hooked – I love it for both the aerobics and to relax me.
Balance to one’s life is essential. All study or all clinical practice leads to only negative endings. Fun and relaxation are essential to becoming a well-rounded person, partner, student, or practicing physician.
What do you think is the most unique aspect of the Vanderbilt medical community and atmosphere?
When I interviewed here more than 25 years ago, most everyone I met with said Vanderbilt was "collegial and collaborative." Now, a quarter of a century later, when I interview medical school and residency applicants, I tell them the best thing about Vanderbilt is that it is collegial and collaborative. This is a great place to learn, live, and practice medicine. I thought I was being given a line when people first talked about Vanderbilt’s atmosphere – instead, they were just telling the truth.