Focus on Faculty
February 2008
Victoria Murrain, DO
Clinical Associate Professor
Family and Community Medicine
What is your hometown?
I am originally from Panama, but I moved
to Stockton, Calif., when I was 10 years old. Stockton is where
I grew up.
When did you join the UA faculty?
I became a faculty member in
October 1992.
How/when did you become interested in science and medicine?
I became
interested in science and medicine in a sexual awareness class
in high school. I was fascinated by watching babies being delivered,
and I decided that I wanted to deliver babies.
What interested you to pursue a career in your field?
Family medicine
intrigued me, and I enjoyed relationship-building with the families.
It was my dream job! When I started my clinical rotations, I decided
that I wasn't particularly interested in the surgical aspects,
but I loved caring for the family, delivering babies and watching
them grow. I'm still delivering babies – it
is so much fun. A little hairy, but fun! Children that I took
care of as a resident are now coming to me with their children.
Being able to teach residents this part of what I do is a great
love of mine. I believe that providing good family care is an
art and that the relationship with the patient and the delivery
of care is what I hope to impart to the students and residents.
Is
there a teacher or mentor who helped shape your career?
Larry Moher,
MD, is the reason I came back to the UA after my residency here.
He embodies the family doctor who cares for the whole family and
is an excellent teacher. His priority is care of the family. One
of the most important things he taught me is the art of listening.
He always told me to "listen to the patient as they will tell
you what is wrong."
How or why did you choose the UA?
I had never been to Tucson, but
was looking for a residency in a warmer climate. I interviewed
here and was impressed with the commitment of the faculty to patient
education and the focus on the underserved. Caring for the underserved
is why I went into medicine, and I felt that people here modeled
that behavior. After my residency (from 1986-1989), I left the
UA for three years and worked in a community health center in the
panhandle of Texas, fulfilling my National Health Service Corps
commitment. I was then recruited as a faculty member back to the
UA, and I have not been able to leave! Since I have been back I
have filled multiple roles. I was the medical director for the
family medicine clinic and the residency director. Then I was the
associate director for both clinic and residency program. After
that I moved to UPH Hospital where I was asked to start building
the practice for the Department of Family and Community Medicine,
hopefully to accommodate residents. At present, I am the assistant
dean for graduate medical education for the new residency programs
at UPH Hospital. We have applied for accreditation for seven
new residency programs, and three have been accredited so far.
Two of these programs will begin in July of this year, and the
radiology department will start its residency program in July
2009. This process has progressed much more quickly than anyone
anticipated.
Please describe your professional interests.
I am very interested
in maternal child care and community medicine. I also have an interest
in diversity issues, and I was actively involved in diversity training
within the College of Medicine and the family medicine residency.
I have a special interest in serving the underserved population
so I developed a maternity care program for uninsured women. I
take a family medicine resident with me to see these patients twice
a month, and then we deliver the baby at UMC. We also worked with
the homeless teen project in Tucson providing first aid and educating
homeless teens. In addition, I have an interest in "due process" and
dealing with difficult residents. Our responsibility as faculty
is to make sure that our graduates are truly competent to provide
medical care. Therefore, the task of identifying the challenges
to learners – whether
behavioral or academic – and addressing them is critical
to the progress of that learner.
What are some of your outside interests?
I am quite involved in
youth activities at my church as a role model and mentor. I have
two sons. My husband and I are often seen at basketball games or
jazz concerts supporting their extracurricular activities. Right
now I am enjoying visiting colleges with my oldest son, so he can
decide where he wants to go. I like to travel and I collect fans
and walking sticks.
Do you have a philosophy that guides you in your professional
work?
I always try to listen to what people are really saying before
I make a decision. This is important whether you are talking about
patients, students or colleagues.
If you could change one thing about the world of medicine, what
would it be?
I would change patients' access to care as it does
not benefit the patient. Secondly, I would change how students
are taught. Currently, students in most schools of medicine are
not given sufficient responsibility. We are progressive at the
UA by giving students patient contact early in their education.
Students who do not have responsibility for patients early in their
education are limited in their ability to learn.
What is the biggest change you've experienced in your field since
you were a student?
The influence of managed care has been the greatest
change since I was a student. Providing medical care has subsequently
become so much more restrictive and it is more difficult to provide
good care to your patients.
What one piece of advice would you give to today's students?
First,
I would tell them to seek feedback often on their performance.
Second, do not be afraid to put yourself out there, and try something
that you have not tried before. This is particularly important
early in your career when you have excellent supervision.
What do you see as "the future" of medicine?
I would
like to see "leveling the playing field," so
that we become a country where we provide equal care for all.
In what ways are you engaged with the greater Arizona public?
I
mentor high school students and college students. I think role
modeling is very powerful. I have really enjoyed attending the
graduations of those I have mentored.
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