Phil Boucher
Who am I?
I am life-long Nebraskan (GO BIG RED!). I grew up in our state's capital and went to undergraduate school at the home of the huskers (Lincoln, NE). I moved to Omaha and went to medical school at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (Yes, I bleed husker red) and am starting residency in Pediatrics at (you guessed it) the University of Nebraska/Children's Hospital and Medical Center of Omaha/Creighton combined program. It's the only pediatric residency in our state so if you have a sick child and live within 500 miles of me, I may be helping care for your child.
I'm also a dad of a one year old (Jane Louise) and baby boy. I'm a husband to a retired teacher whose full-time job is taking care of our kids, home, me and our dog (Monty). I'm lucky to have such a supportive spouse and wouldn't be where I am without her constant support. I love spending time with my family and in-laws, reading, cooking, and trying to play Mr. Fix-It to our home.
Why blog?
1. I love writing
2. I love teaching - parents, kids, students, colleagues, myself, anyone who will listen/read what I have to say.
3. I love medicine, pediatrics, and science in general.
4. I think that educating parents, friends, colleagues, and strangers about medicine helps to create trust in the medical profession and enables parents to be informed health consumers for themselves and their children.
5. Medicine is NOT creative. In fact, you are rewarded for falling in line and presenting information as directly and specifically as possible (if you don't believe me, come on rounds and see how meticulously scripted we try to be). This blog is a way to make my un-creative career into something a bit more creative.
6. Blogging keeps me thinking, reading, and researching. If I am going to share a topic with you, I better know it well enough to write about it so this blog challenges me to know my stuff well.
7. When I graduated medical school, we were told that "if we do not advocate for our profession, someone with less experience and less training will do it for you". I hope this blog helps people understand the training, thought process, rewards and struggles that medical professionals encounter every day.
8. I kind of enjoy hearing myself speak and my sense of humor (all bloggers are like this to some extent - at least I can admit it!). Also, I get a kick out of seeing how many people read my blog and strive to increase the readership.
