DOCTOR ON CALL
Myers relishes being on the front line of emergency medicine.
Frank Myers (WC ‘13) is at his best when his patients are usually feeling their worst. Myers, who lives in Selinsgrove, Pa. with his wife Jayne and their one-year-old son Frankie, recently received a degree in osteopathic medicine from Liberty University and now serves as an emergency medicine resident at the Geisinger Medical Center.
“I love being the first person able to help the patient when he or she comes into the emergency room,” Myers said. “I can help first-hand in getting the patient stable and on their way to recovery. I get to be the first person in charge of their care as they come through the ER.”
While working at Liberty’s hospital, Myers saw his fair share of heartbreaking, pulse-quickening cases. However, there are a couple of cases that still make him laugh. A female patient came in with severe abdominal pain. Myers said the cause quickly presented itself with a quick look at her ultrasound.
“We were running the ultrasound across her stomach and all of the sudden there was this baby’s face peering back at me,” Myers said. “She was four months pregnant. She had no idea. She was so shocked.”
The care and the relationships forged with the patients are very short-term when one works in the emergency room. However, Myers said he was able to build relationships with patients and their families during his rotation in the Intensive Care Unit.
“Because they’re there for a while, you get to know their families as they come in to visit,” Myers said. “Those kinds of interactions, especially when the patient does take a turn for the better and you’ve built some relationships with their families, are a little more gratifying.
Once he started working in the ER, the adrenaline rush and the breakneck speed became addicting. The drama of the trauma care however is nothing like what one sees on television in shows like ER and Chicago Hope.
“I don’t watch a lot of those shows,” Myers said. “There’s always a lot of things they add just for, you know, the drama. For example, when someone goes into cardiac arrest, they always grab the electric paddles and shock him back to life. That usually doesn’t happen.”
In many ways, Myers is fulfilling what he believes he is meant to be. Ever since he was little, he dreamed of being a doctor. After graduating high school, Myers did his undergraduate work at The Ohio State University, majoring in Medical Laboratory Sciences.
“It has been something God placed on my heart for as long as I can remember,” Myers said. “I have wanted to be a doctor since I was young. That dream was affirmed through all of my experiences, from working and volunteering in hospitals to medical school. I am passionate about helping others through medicine.
“Completing medical school was one of the biggest things I’ve had to overcome. Now my biggest obstacle is balancing the work of residency with my home life.”
Myers credits Worthington Christian for helping put him on the right path academically, spiritually, and mentally for what he is doing now.
“Worthington Christian helped prepare me to succeed in college so that I could continue chasing my goal of becoming a doctor,” Myers said. “One of the ways it helped me is the friendships and community I still have to this day.”