Dr. Terry Simpson was born and bred in Ketchikan, Alaska. Making the move to the University of Chicago in 1977, Terry would spend almost the entirety of his twenties here, eventually graduating from the Pritzker School of Medicine in 1986 as a Doctor of Medicine along with his Bachelors and Masters in Biology. While doctors require ongoing education to ensure their skills are kept up to date, this would be the last formal education Terry would undertake.   Molecular biology was a true passion for Terry. One of his favourite co-authored articles was published in 1982; An Ovalbumin Gene Fused to a Herpes Simplex Virus Alpha Promoter and Linked to a Thymidine Kinase Gene is Regulated Like a Viral Gene. One of the other author’s labs, Dr. Roizman, was somewhere Terry spent a lot of time as they worked together, but Terry gradually realised that he loved helping people directly as well as compiling research.   The following seven years after graduating, Terry worked tirelessly as a vascular surgeon, helping those with health issues related to their weight, clearing arteries was a blast. After completing medical school, there is no rest for the wicked; you are a recently qualified student who needs to prove yourself to the more experienced doctors. Terry did put in the work and in 1993 his career to a big step up in responsibility.   1993 was perhaps his breakout year, the year where it was confirmed that Phoenix, Arizona was going to be his permanent base going forward. Terry was appointed Program Director of Surgery at Maricopa Medical Center. The primary role was taking charge of the teaching program for surgical residents. The role had an HR aspect to it as future surgeons would need his tick of approval before they could be considered for hire. He also created procedures to ensure surgery care at Maricopa Medical Center became sought after.   The early stage of Terry’s career appears to be a mismatch of things. Going to the University of Chicago is quite the journey from his home base in Alaska. The study path here however began to shape Terry’s career, biology studies eventually led to medicine with an article or two written with fellow students guiding him towards weight loss surgery where he realised he could actively research and help people directly. Working hard out of med school earned him relatively quick promotion to Program Director where he could shape a culture of helping people long term.   Visit Dr Terry Simpson on Blogger.