Annual Publication 2025 FINAL 05292025 accessible - Flipbook - Page 29
Dr. Chen moved to Las Vegas when she was 5 years old and has
been in Nevada ever since. After obtaining her undergraduate
degree from UNLV, she completed medical school at the University
of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine before returning to the Kirk
Kerkorian School of Medicine in Las Vegas for her residency.
“My parents still live here [Las Vegas] and throughout med school,
my dad’s health kind of declined and so I decided that I de昀椀nitely
wanted to come back here so I could be closer to them. It was one
of my main motivating factors, but also, I don’t really see myself
leaving Vegas until I retire.”
Although emergency medicine 昀椀ts her life perfectly now, it was
not necessarily where her interest was in the beginning. “I actually
scribed in the ER [emergency room] at Sunrise peds [Sunrise
Hospital Pediatrics] towards the end of college. And then I was
even a research assistant for the UNLV EM program in college,”
says Dr. Chen. “So, I’ve been around EM, not really because I was
interested in the 昀椀eld before med school, but because it provided
good opportunities … I tried to keep my options open, but I found
myself gravitating towards EM, I think 昀椀rst, because it’s really
exciting, and I de昀椀nitely feel like I would get quite bored working
in a clinic every day.”
“As residents, the imposter syndrome [can come in],” says Dr.
Chen. “... nobody walks into their work days feeling like they’re
100% ready and that they 100% know everything. I think we go
into all of our shifts, every single day, a little bit nervous, and a
little bit scared of what we’re going to face. Because all of us just
want to help. But it’s a big responsibility, you know?”
Despite the doubts that may creep in, Dr. Chen is keenly aware of
the impact that our resident physicians have in this community.
“We get to see a very speci昀椀c population of Vegas at UMC
[University Medical Center], and it’s the population that needs
our help the most. I think it gives us the chance to really make
a difference … Our patients are sick. Most don’t have healthcare.
They come to us when they have no other choice, which not only
provides us great medical training, but I think it creates a huge
impact in this part of town.”
Not only that, but in the emergency room, they feel the impact
directly of the physician shortage in our state. “We’re basically
functioning as primary care for them,” says Dr. Chen, “which
is not what the ER is made to be. Vegas also needs a lot more
specialty physicians … we need to bring in these specialties that
we’re sending out to California and Arizona all the time because
we only have a handful of specialists in certain 昀椀elds … We also
need to have a much more robust primary care system here.
Everyone needs to be able to see a primary care doctor, and not
in the two to three months that even I’m booking just to get my
yearly checkups done.”
Beyond residency, Dr. Chen already has plans to stay in our
community with two different hospital systems, “... which I’m
super excited about because it’s different from UMC and … I get
to see all of the valley. I’m hoping that in the future, I can maybe
get into academics too.”
SUMMER 2025 MAGAZINE
29
PHOTO: JULIAN FOX
Dr. Chen, a third-year resident in the Kirk Kerkorian School of
Medicine at UNLV Department of Emergency Medicine, loves
the excitement of her specialty, but also relishes the time for
a personal life that it affords. “I love medicine,” she says, “but I
want to be able to live my life too. And the schedule that you get
with EM [emergency medicine] allows me to focus on my family,
friends, and interests, but also work in a 昀椀eld that I really enjoy.”
The excitement of emergency medicine doesn’t always mean
a resident feels like they have everything under control. The
challenges are ever-present.
JENNIFER CHEN, MD, AND ARCHIBALD
“I
remember I wrote in my application for residency
that, in emergency medicine, you’re the 昀椀rst line
and you see people on their worst days,” says
Jennifer Chen, MD. “I think that really kind of
spoke to me … that part of emergency medicine.
And also, the lifestyle is great!”
