We are excited to welcome Dr. Gigi Green as a new fellow in our Infectious Diseases program! Read on to learn a little more about her.
Tell us about the position you are starting
As an ID fellow, I spend my inpatient clinical time on the general infectious diseases teaching service with residents and medical students, as well as on our specialty ID services such as transplant ID, oncology ID, ortho ID, and community ID. I am learning from ID attendings and working with outstanding APPs and pharmacists on these services. My outpatient time includes an HIV continuity clinic and recurrent general ID clinics where I see previously hospitalized patients or outpatient referrals for ID issues. I’m excited to continue my research and teaching efforts as part of my training.
Tell us about your background
I am originally from the San Francisco bay area in California. I completed my undergraduate in biochemistry at Loyola Marymount in LA and then moved to Washington D.C. for a year where I worked as a CNA at a subacute care facility for the homeless. While there I developed a love for public health and moved to Omaha where I worked in Emergency Medical Services and phlebotomy (where my nickname was culture lady for the obscene number of blood cultures that would get ordered on my shifts) while completing an MPH at Creighton. During my MPH I realized that I missed clinical medicine and went to medical school in Maine where I continued my circuitous journey and completed an extra teaching fellowship year. From there I came to UNMC for IM residency, stayed for a Quality Improvement Chief year and now have stayed on for fellowship!
Why did you choose to come work at UNMC
My early time in Omaha overlapped with the first Ebola patients being cared for at UNMC. When I realized that I wanted to pursue ID, I knew that I wanted to be at a program for IM residency where I could start to build relationships with an ID department and potentially stay for fellowship. This led me to the UNMC IM residency. I chose to stay for fellowship because of how welcoming the department has been to me since day 1 of my intern year at the residency mentorship dinner where I got to have a fantastic conversation with Drs. Marcelin and Fadul. Since then the UNMC ID department continued to create opportunities for me, so I was excited for the opportunity to stay for fellowship and continue to explore these opportunities.
What makes you excited about working in ID
I love that in ID you still have to know a little bit of everything. While our primary focus in on infections we still have to know general medicine and some surgery (without ever going back to the OR). The breadth of medicine and patients that we get to see in ID is fun and makes me excited to come to work. Additionally, we still get continuity of care with many of our patients in the outpatient setting and can make a positive impact on their lives through treatment of their infections.
Tell us something about yourself that is unrelated to medicine
I have many hobbies outside of medicine. I teach yoga at a local studio, sing in a choir and take dance classes. Over the past few years I have gotten very into cross-stitching as a hobby and enjoy going to the local cross-stitch store during their open stitch days and attended their retreat in the spring. I also love camping, hiking, and backpacking and basically anything that lets me get outside.
Tell us about your first few months as a fellow
These first few months as a fellow have been a lot of learning but have been great. The welcoming environment that I first experienced as an intern has continued and only grown since officially getting to start as a fellow. I have enjoyed the opportunity to spend more time on different services and look forward to continuing to learn through the next 2 years!
