Hooked on ID with Ravina Kullar, PharmD, MPH, FIDSA
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
I chose a career in infectious diseases during my residency in Detroit.
I had a really good introduction in infectious diseases from Dr. Michael Rybak and Dr. Donald Levine, who were at Detroit Medical Center/Wayne State University, in seeing the way that they cared for patients and approached medicine. The research they were involved in with antibiotic resistance really interested me as well.
It’s almost like you’re a detective when you’re in infectious diseases because you have to figure out, first of all, if there is an infection and then what organism is causing the infection. That really interested me — being a detective. You are consulted all the time, no matter what — whether it’s a surgery or a heart condition, there is usually some infection for patients in the hospital.
Lastly, there was a young and otherwise healthy patient of mine when I was a resident who ended up developing an antibiotic-resistant infection and died. I ended up doing a TED talk about him. That prompted my interest, as well — to see the negative impact that antibiotic overuse can have on people was very alarming to me.
— Ravina Kullar, PharmD, MPH, FIDSA
Infectious diseases pharmacist and epidemiologist
Fellow and spokesperson for the Infectious Diseases Society of America