I grew up in a military family and as a child lived both in Europe and throughout the United States. As an adult, I decided to serve my country as well, and was an Air Force officer for four years, working as a research and development engineer. Upon separation, I continued work as an engineer but eventually realized that I enjoyed more personal interactions with colleagues and clients and decided instead to pursue a career in medicine. I was drawn to the subspecialty of dermatology because of its variety within medicine and the opportunity it would give me to help those patients with skin conditions that affected their quality of life. I am grateful to be practicing dermatology at Kaiser Permanente because of the caliber of the entire dermatologic group and the ability to focus my energy on taking care of patients and making their lives better.