I grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. While completing my undergraduate studies in beautiful, heavily forested southern Illinois, I injured my rotator cuff muscles of my shoulder. I had just learned about these muscles in my anatomy class, this allowed me to better understand what I injured and how to manage the injury. Working for one year on a trauma floor of a Chicago hospital as a nurse's aide showed me the all the aspects of trauma care and hospital workers. I then went Des Moines University for medical school, followed by family medicine residency in West Palm Beach, Florida. I have family in Seattle, Washington, LaGrande, Oregon and Bend, Oregon, so I have visited the Northwest in the past, and had a soft spot for Portland. After residency, my wife and I decided to move across country and live in the beautiful northwest.