David Egeler, DO

Get to know David Egeler, DO, internal medicine resident.

Career goal: Cardiology

“Residency is one of the most important experiences you will ever have because it determines what type of doctor you are going to be.”

What makes your LVHN training program different from others across the country?

At LVHN you get the best of both worlds. You experience a wide variety of pathology and see some of the most complicated cases like you would at a large academic medical center, but with the feel of a community hospital. LVHN has an extremely wide catch area for all sorts of interesting cases. There are opportunities for learning no matter what your interest is. If you are interested in research, it is very much available to you, but if it’s not your thing, you are not pressured into participating. You will become a competent physician because of the way the program is structured and because of the good combination of autonomy and guidance from more experienced clinicians.

What has been the most interesting part of your training experience so far?

As someone interested in cardiology, one of the highlights of LVHN is its large cardiac intensive care unit (ICU). As residents, we have an opportunity to care for extremely sick cardiac patients and have access to mechanical support devices such as balloon pumps. Although we are not a transplant center, we see patients with LVADs and often utilize mechanical support to help stabilize patients. Unless you train at a large academic medical center, it is unlikely that you will have an opportunity to utilize these devices. Additionally, we have a primary cardiology service, so you learn all about cardiology while caring for the most critical patients in the cardiac ICU.

What is one memory you have from your training so far that will stick with you for your career?

Residency is one of the most important experiences you will ever have because it determines what type of doctor you are going to be. I have specific patient encounters that have changed the way I speak to both patients and to family members, and I have experiences that changed how I practice clinically as well. One of the most memorable experiences for me came while I was on ICU night float. I had a critically ill patient who was in worsening multi-pressor shock, thought to be driven by sepsis. Despite all our interventions, he continued to deteriorate. I used knowledge learned during our point-of-care ultrasound courses to quickly perform an echocardiogram, which showed a new severe cardiomyopathy. We started him on inotropes, and he ended up turning around within minutes and ended up walking out of the hospital a week later. It made me feel confident that I was developing the skills necessary to be a great doctor.

What is one piece of advice you would share with someone as they select a training program?

Try to align your career goals with the residency that you choose. You want to be in a program that is going to equip you with the skills needed to have a successful career in the field of your choice. If you want to practice and live in a large city, then that is the type of program you should choose. Conversely, if you are less interested in an urban setting, then picking a more rural hospital will provide you with experience you will need to practice within that setting. If you are interested in a specific fellowship, it’s important that you get the training and exposure you need in that field during your residency. It helps when the residency has that fellowship in-house, but it is not always necessary.

What does it mean to be a resident at LVHN?

LVHN has always felt like a big team during my whole time here. This goes for the entire residency and the leadership, but also for the nurses, case managers and ancillary staff as well. It has a community feel to it that may be hard to find at larger academic centers. The staff and my co-residents always seem to have the patients’ best interests at heart and are willing to go out of their way for their patients and for their colleagues. We always try to cover for each other when possible, and the residency leadership has your goals and success as its top priority.