Who We Are
Spotlight on Connecticut Students & Residents


 

Christine Miller
Undergraduate Institution: Bucknell University
Medical School: Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, Middletown, NY

 

Where are you from?
I'm from Mansfield, MA.

In the very beginning, what inspired you to study medicine?
After college, I was interested in going into research. I thought that I wanted to go for a PhD program, but wanted some more research experience first. I started working in a stem cell lab at Joslin Diabetes center in Boston and worked on projects investigating various age-related changes in the heart, muscles and blood. This was all a really exciting work, but I was really inspired by the clinical connection of our studies. I wanted a "face" to my work in the lab so I decided to apply to medical school.

And why Osteopathic Medicine?
I was turned on to osteopathic medicine by my uncle who is a DO practicing family and sports medicine. While shadowing him one summer, I was really inspired by the way he interacted with his patients - drawing diagrams and taking time to explain what was going on with them. When I commented on this, he said that this was really how he was trained in his osteopathic medical school. When I looked more into osteopathic medicine, I really liked how you were trained to look at the person as a whole. Now as a osteopathic medical student, I love that we learn OMM because we always have a tool to help make the patient feel better right away; while waiting for labs or other diagnostics we can do something.

What has been the most interesting experience during your training at Sharon Hospital?
Recently a few of us medical students were able to participate in giving physicals to Syrian refugee children. Neither the children nor their mother spoke any English so for doing their physicals we had to get a little creative; we paired up and sort of pantomimed the parts of the exam before doing it to the kids. The kids were so cheerful and patient. It was incredible to hear through their translator all they had been through.

What are your hobbies and interests outside of medicine?
I love running! I ran the 800 meter and 1000 meter in college, but now in my "retirement" from those events, I've gotten really into longer distances. Before med school I ran a handful of marathons with my mom. This year I've been loving exploring all the beautiful scenery while running around Sharon!

What is next for you? Immediate plans after this year?
I'm actually not really sure! I'm hoping to figure out what I'm interested in doing my residency in over the next few months here at Sharon.

What are your long term practice goals?
I hope to be able to combine clinical practicing with research. I'd love to be able to take a pathology back to the lab to work on understanding it better and providing a better standard of care.

How do you feel about studying in Connecticut at Sharon?
I'm loving Sharon and Sharon Hospital! It's a really beautiful area, so it's very hard to ever be in a bad mood when you look around and see all these rolling mountains. Sharon Hospital has been so wonderful to us students too-- making us feel very welcome, both as part of the community and as part of the health care team. The doctors have all been so great with teaching us and letting us participate in their cases. I'm really happy here!

Would you be interested in staying and practicing in Connecticut once you’re finished with your education and training?
Absolutely! I've been having such a great experience so far and Connecticut has so much to offer in terms of health care training. Having a good mix of big teaching hospitals and smaller more rural ones like Sharon gives a great balance of academia and local medical needs.