UChicago pediatric trauma director takes open-ended leave to 'refill tank'

Catherine Humikowski, MD, resigned July 1 as medical director of University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital's pediatric intensive care unit, according to a local news report from WTTW

"I have the perfect job," she said, according to the report. "I just need to refill my tank to do it. I really admire the people who stick it out and serve tirelessly day in and day out. I'll miss them the most when I take a break."

Dr. Humikowski started at UChicago as a senior fellow in its pediatric critical care unit. Despite training at a children's hospital in Boston, she said she was completely unprepared for the violence she saw in the PICU, according to the report. She said she used coping mechanisms to deal with the shock and eventually became "numb." 

However, Dr. Humikowski's personal life threw her additional challenges. Her father had Alzheimer's and her mother died unexpectedly in 2011. Two years later, Dr. Humikowski went into cardiac arrest and her heart stopped beating for a few minutes during childbirth. Nonetheless, she went back to work after her maternity leave and was promoted to medical director of the PICU. 

However, being a mother changed the way she saw her job and the role became too emotionally draining. Dr. Humikowski ultimately decided to take a break from her career. She intends to return several months or years in the future, according to the report.

Read the full story here.

 

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