Tammy Euliano, MD
Tammy Euliano, MD, is a practicing anesthesiologist and tenured professor of anesthesiology at the University of Florida. In addition to a prolific list of academic publications, YouTube teaching videos, and numerous teaching awards, she has also written award-winning short fiction. Fatal Intent is her debut novel. Tammy lives in Gainesville, FL, with her husband.
Twitter: @Teuliano
Instagram: @Teuliano
Have you ever experienced Imposter Syndrome?
Has anyone NOT ever experienced Imposter Syndrome? As I've learned more about it, I can't imagine it not affecting each of us at one time or another, maybe without the label. As a medical student and resident, it was a constant. There was/is always more to know, and seemingly always someone who knew more. Now, as an experienced physician and professor, there are the occasional moments I fear I'll disappoint those who look up to me, that I'll be unmasked as a fraud in their eyes. Having experienced Imposter Syndrome so much in medical training, I feel it much less so far in my nascent writing career. Something to look forward to?
Vacation druthers… City or Rural destination? Why?
Nature, hands (and feet) down. We don't live in a big city, but I love getting out into nature, especially mountains. Glacier National Park, Yosemite, the Grand Tetons, Telluride, CO, Park City, UT, these are some of our favorite places. I love to hike, not the overnight, lug around a tent and air mattress kind (for that I'd need a sherpa), but the 10-12 mile day hikes where I still have a shower and bed at the end...oh, and Motrin, lots of Motrin. When the kids were small, we dragged them along with goldfish crackers and cheerios around every bend, now we hike with friends and promise beer instead. The smell of fresh air and greenery, the vast vistas that make me feel so small, the contrasting colors of trees and granite and sky and clouds, it all energizes me and puts things in perspective. Talking is optional, just walking and viewing, taking some photos that don't do it justice, oh, and thanking my orthopedic surgeon for the new knee.
Do you have another artistic outlet in addition to your writing? Do you sew? Paint? Draw? Knit? Dance?
I don't get to do it often anymore, but I enjoy changing the words to popular songs to tell a story, then creating a video to match. I can't actually sing the song after, but I'm blessed with family and friends who can. It's my Weird Al Yankovic alter ego I guess. The first video editing I did was for my father's 60th birthday in 1998, so before there was much software out there, and the internet was still a little touchy. I had all the old 16mm film from the 1950's digitized, then put music behind it. There was one funny video of my grandparents 25th anniversary in which my then teenage father dressed up like a scantily clad woman. I needed strip-tease type music and quickly learned that one needs to be very careful when searching the internet for such things. It would likely be infinitely worse today. I've made videos of some of our vacations, for resident graduation, to celebrate colleagues' retirement. It's something I've really enjoyed, but is so time-consuming I rarely take the time any more. Odd, since I have way more time now than I did back then.
What brings you great joy?
It sounds lame, but seeing the people (and dogs) I love joyful brings me the greatest joy. When we're together, playing games or telling old stories or just being goofy, and I see them smiling and laughing, that is the meaning of joy. Watching my dogs at the lake, ears flopping as they run with a tennis ball and a big smile (yes, those can coexist on one sloppy face), I can't help but smile, too (minus the tennis ball).
I'm also blessed with a career where I get to be a part of labor and the delivery of newborns - to contribute in a meaningful way to that experience, by relieving pain and anxiety, by working as part of a highly skilled team, even by taking the first new family photos, it's a privilege and brings me joy every day.
What piece of clothing tells the most interesting story about your life?
It's actually a tub of clothing. My husband and I kept our intramural championship t-shirts through all of college and graduate/med school. Our group of dorm friends took sports a bit more seriously than most college students in the '80s. Odd, since the East 3 Mullets was the geeky group in the Honors dorm, which only made it that much sweeter when we trounced over-confident fraternities/sororities. Our co-ed flag football team made it to the national championships in New Orleans. Little known fact, it was through flag football that I met my husband, we took turns at quarterback. And yes, each of our three children can throw a football properly...it was mandatory to graduate adolescence. When we were first married, we bought a small house, but couldn't afford to furnish or decorate it, so the dining room became a shrine to our college days with championship t-shirts on all the walls.
