Hooked on ID with Brandon J. Smith, MD, PharmD
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Why ID? Cue the iconic theme music from the medical drama House.
My medical journey started in 2004 as a pharmacy technician following my sophomore year of high school. Around this time, House premiered. By the time I reached my first year of pharmacy school, House was reaching its peak of popularity, and I was hooked on the diagnostic mysteries depicted on the show.
Learning that Dr. House was board certified in infectious diseases prompted me to seek a mentor within the specialty. I was introduced to Dr. Scott Curry, a real-life diagnostic savant, and under his mentorship, cemented my trajectory to medical school upon completion of my pharmacy training.
I have continued to accumulate phenomenal mentors who have shaped my career. Drs. Mohamed Yassin and Ricardo Arbulu guided me through residency and introduced me to antimicrobial stewardship. Dr. Ryan Shields elevates my passion for stewardship to a new level and mentors me along my research path. Mentors are an invaluable component to our career journeys.
I am blessed to have turned a TV show into my career and to spend each day as a prokaryotic (and occasionally eukaryotic) exterminator, following the path of Dr. House.
— Brandon J. Smith, MD, PharmD
Clinical assistant professor of medicine
Division of infectious diseases
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center