Elsa Imbimbo

Personal Statement
The patient who taught me the most during my Internal Medicine rotation was a woman who presented to the emergency room with a headache and leg swelling. Considering these symptoms combined with hypokalemia and a systolic blood pressure in the 200 range, we realized she must have hyperaldosteronism. It was rewarding to have our diagnosis confirmed by the discovery of a hyper-secreting adrenal mass, which was removed during her stay. However, after reviewing her records, I was surprised to find that this was the second time she was hospitalized, having received a work-up for hyperaldosteronism a year earlier. During my initial history I took note that she had emigrated from Guatemala, spoke only Spanish, and did not have insurance. Her circumstances could have presented significant barriers to care. As I read on about her last admission, I learned she was instructed to follow up and received a prescription for spironolactone. However, that prescription was never filled and her primary care physician was unaware of the pending diagnostic tests from the hospital. This time, to ensure the patient would have complete follow-up care, I arranged for a direct sign-out to one of our faculty members who sees patients at a local free clinic. When I checked-in a week later I was glad to hear the patient was seen and received all her medications. This experience drove home for me the importance of understanding a patient’s social circumstances and identifying those who might need extra help transitioning back to outpatient care.

Why I Chose Cincinnati
The short answer is, I went with my gut feeling. I was looking for a program that shared my values of patient- centered care and self-improvement, so I was intrigued by the special status of the UC program to be innovative. Oddly enough, I was excited by all the data presented to us on interview day. I knew I wanted to put my public health degree to use helping vulnerable populations in the local community, and the CHAMPIONS Community Health and Advocacy pathway offered structure for that goal. Long block sounded like a perfect way for me to test out primary care as a career. I felt welcomed by the current chiefs, PD, and residents. We played games in the down time between interviews and I felt quite comfortable having fun even though it was an important and mostly serious day. Something unexpectedly significant, I got the most thoughtful (honestly enjoyable) interview questions here. UC impressed me as a top-notch clinical environment with an unmatched commitment to the highest-quality resident education. Plus, these people are gems and seemed to love it here.

MD: University Of Miami LM Miller School Of Medicine

University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
231 Albert Sabin Way
Cincinnati  Ohio, 45267
IMBIMBEA@UCMAIL.UC.EDU