PA Resident Wants to Stay Home, Make a Difference
By Ella Rosner
CHS contributor
Tyler Cunningham, 26, was raised in Bowling Green and has always called Kentucky home. After completing his residency program here in the College of Health Sciences, Cunningham plans to stay home and continue to give back to the Bluegrass State as a Physician Assistant.
Cunningham completed his bachelor’s in biology at Brescia University in Owensboro, Kentucky and proceeded to complete his master’s in physician assistant studies at Christian Brothers University. He is very excited to be joining the UKPA Academic Residency Program in the hospital medicine track here in Lexington.
As a former collegiate baseball catcher, peer tutor, and club president, Tyler felt that he could best apply his skills of group leadership, communication, and delegation in managing and coordinating patient care in the role of a physician assistant.
Outside of medicine, he enjoys hiking, sports, reading, movies, almost all kinds of music and spending time with friends and family. Cunningham will also be getting married to his fianceé, whom he met in PA school, and is also completing a residency program in emergency medicine at UK Healthcare.
Here’s 5 questions with resident Tyler Cunningham:
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WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO PA SCHOOL?:
Throughout my childhood I observed my mother, an ICU nurse, minister to others through her job and care for my grandfather (her father) as he suffered and succumbed to glioblastoma multiforme. My undergraduate academic advisor recognized a similarity between me and one of his previous students who had become a physician assistant and arranged a dinner for us to meet. Hearing about the profession, I felt in that moment a call to pursue a career as a physician assistant as it combined my love of science and human physiology.
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WHY UK? YOUR DECISION HAD MUCH TO DO WITH COMING BACK TO KENTUCKY TO HELP THE COMMONWEALTH – WHY DO YOU FEEL THIS IS SO IMPORTANT?
When I finished PA school, my wife and I were both pursuing post-graduate residency. We learned that UK had a residency both in hospital medicine and emergency medicine. Kentucky also is home for me. My family moved to Bowling Green when I was very young. We did not know anyone in the state at the time of the move but we found a home in our Kentucky community. When I was presented with the opportunity, it seemed right that I would complete my education and PA training serving the community that I was raised in.
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HOW HAS UK AND CHS BEEN FOR YOU SO FAR?
UK and CHS have welcomed me, challenged me, and motivated me to be the best provider to the community I serve. There is an atmosphere of belonging here, though we come from diverse backgrounds. We all consider Kentucky our home and are proud to serve our state.
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WHAT DOES THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE FOR YOU? WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO DO NEXT?
After residency, my wife (also a PA) and I will continue to work at UK Chandler in hospital and emergency medicine, respectively.
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IF SOMEONE WERE TO ASK YOU FOR ADVICE ABOUT FOLLOWING IN YOUR FOOTSTEPS, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO THEM ABOUT THE PROFESSION AND UK – AND CHS?
If you are going to pursue a career as a physician assistant, you must prepare yourself to serve, and to offer the best version of yourself to those you serve. Take the time to sharpen the axe before you chop down the tree. Invest in your education. Go the extra mile with it. It will pay off.