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MSTP graduate inspired to chase zebras, find answers
in medicine
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by Cindy Abole
Public Relations
It’s Medical Scientist in Training graduate Jamie Fraser’s dream to
hunt down zebras throughout her career.
There’s a saying taught in medical schools that’s meant to challenge
students to think rationally and practically as physicians in training.
The phrase, “When you hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras,” was
coined by University of Maryland School of Medicine professor Theodore
Woodward, M.D., as a reminder to students that the most obvious
cause and explanation is usually the most common and correct one as it
relates to a patient’s diagnosis and treatment.
 Dr. Jamie Fraser
with husband, Brent and daughter, Zoe
Thankfully, the Hiram, Ga., native won’t need to travel to the open
plains of Tanzania to seek training or carry special equipment to
accomplish this feat. Fraser will be training in genetics, which
includes the study of examining rare diseases or zebras.
She’ll only need the critical thinking skills, valuable training and
research techniques she has already honed in the last eight years at
MUSC. That, combined with her tenacious attitude and proficiency
to ask good questions and seek answers, will make the difference in the
lives of her patients, their families and others suffering from rare
genetic disorders and conditions.
Fraser is among four M.D./Ph.D. degree candidates and one DMD/Ph.D.
student who will be among the last students to receive their diplomas
in the May 21 commencement.
In less than a week, Fraser, along with husband, Brent and daughter,
Zoe, 2-1/2, will relocate about 545 miles north of Charleston to
College Park, Md., where she’ll start a coveted five-year combined
pediatric and medical genetics residency July 1 at the National
Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Children’s National Medical Center and
National Human Genome Institute in Bethesda, Md. She was the first
choice out of a handful of applicants who competed nationally for this
dual specialty residency spot.
“This is an exciting program and opportunity for me,” said Fraser, who
will conduct her internship year at Children’s Medical Center. “The NIH
and National Human Genome Institute help patients, especially those
people who suffer from very rare and undiagnosed genetic diseases and
disorders. The NIH also hosts an undiagnosed diseases program that
helps find answers for patients and advances the medical knowledge
learned about some rare diseases. I’m excited about the opportunity of
being involved in new discoveries and treatments that may cure people.”
“Jamie’s residency is a terrific opportunity for her and yet another
example of the type of high quality students our program produces,”
said Perry V. Halushka, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the College of
Graduate Studies and program director. “Our graduates are able to
go on to the best internships, residencies and fellowships in the
country. For Jamie to be selected one out of five people competing is
quite an accomplishment. We’re very proud of Jamie and know that she’ll
do well as both a pediatrician and human geneticist in the future.”
Fraser began her journey at MUSC in July 2002. She came to Charleston
after graduating from Agnes Scott College in 2001 with a degree in
biochemistry and molecular biology. She spent an interim year
conducting research at Emory University and preparing for the combined
medicine and graduate studies track. For the first two years, she
followed the medical school curriculum and completed her basic science
classes.
Starting in 2004, she spent her research years working with Ling Wei,
M.D., former associate professor in the Department of Pathology and
Laboratory Medicine. Wei, who was at MUSC from 2001 to 2008, conducted
translational research focusing on cell injury, protection and recovery
in cerebral strokes. Fraser's research focused on the brain’s response
to stroke injury in neonatal rat models. Perinatal and neonatal stroke
affects one in 4,000 newborns and approximately 25 percent of those
infants suffer from long-term impairments like cerebral palsy, epilepsy
and other developmental delays. Fraser specifically looked at
understanding the signaling molecules and repair strategies that occur
while the brain attempts to recover, while also examining other
responses including the effect of gender on functional outcomes.
“Jamie was able to apply her research experience, medical school
knowledge and learned skills and techniques for acquiring and analyzing
data to conduct sound translational research,” said Wei,
who is now a professor and John E. Steinhaus Endowed Chair in
Anesthesiology at Emory University in Atlanta. “She’s extremely smart,
patient, articulate and compassionate to others. She’ll make an
excellent physician-scientist.“
Throughout her studies, Fraser also enjoyed what life had to offer her.
In 2006, she met and married Brent, an industrial and systems engineer
who worked at the Space and Naval Warfare Charleston. Prior to resuming
medical school and starting her clinical experiences, Fraser was
pregnant with daughter, Zoe, during her final year of her graduate
studies curriculum. Her daughter’s birth in September 2007 challenged
Fraser to find balance between motherhood, research responsibilities
and remaining clinical years as a developing physician-scientist. She
was grateful for the advice and support shared by many role models on
campus and the dean’s office staff.
“It’s not unusual for women to start a family while continuing in the
program,” Halushka said of Fraser, who joins MSTP graduates Michelle
Crosby (2005) and Laura Spruill (2008) who all became mothers as
students. “I think it’s a tribute to women in the program who are able
to start a family, raise a child, and continue with their studies
through graduate and medical school and still come out at the top of
their class, plus get their first choices in residency. It’s also a
testament to the flexibility of our program in supporting students.”
Motherhood experiences also helped steer Fraser’s interest in
neonatology and pediatrics. Although she loved conducting neonatal
research work, she wasn’t prepared for the demands associated with the
fast-paced, think-on-your-feet, acute care setting that focuses on the
care of newborn, sick and premature babies. Instead, Fraser chose
general pediatrics after rotating with Patricia McBurney, M.D., Sharron
Jackson, M.D., and staff in the Department of Pediatrics.
“I love the fact that little children can bounce back quickly after
being so ill,” she said. “Kids are so happy-go-lucky, even when they’re
not feeling their best.”
Fraser also felt drawn and inspired to these medical specialties
through family experiences. At age 16, she helped her mother and aunt
care for a cousin who was born 10 weeks premature. Fraser remembers
being fascinated with the skill of the neonatologists and caregivers in
her cousin’s care for those five weeks that she eagerly helped out when
her cousin came home. “It was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen.”
On the opposite spectrum, Fraser experienced the reality of death
witnessing the final hours of her niece, Anna Katherine, who died at
5-1/2 weeks in 2008. Her niece, the youngest of twin girls born to her
brother and sister-in-law, was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor.
“Although I believe my niece received the most amazing care available,
no one was prepared for what ultimately happened,” she said. “It was
both a tragic and amazing experience for me, because now I know how it
feels to be sitting and waiting for news and have that perspective.
I’ve learned that communicating and updating patients and their
families about their situation is very important. I want to keep them
informed and let them know that they are never alone. It’s what I
require of myself.”
When asked if Fraser’s journey to becoming a pediatrician was
everything she had imagined, she paused in reflection before replying.
“One never can know what the journey is like until you live it,” said
Fraser. “There are so many subsets to this job than what people see in
TV dramas. Those are all fictional and the profession is portrayed to
be fun and glamorous. Medicine, to me, is so much better
than that. I couldn’t see myself doing anything else. I find it both an
honor and privilege to care for people and hope I can do this to the
best of my ability every day. “
Friday, May 21, 2010
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