Residency training is an endurance sport. Kayla Bean, MD, is learning a lot in her first leg of the race.

“I’ve been surprised by how much fun I’m having as an intern,” says Bean, a first-year resident at the University of Iowa Department of Family and Community Medicine.

She’s finally doing what she’s wanted to do ever since a college-level anatomy class in high school sparked her interest in medicine. Up until that point, Bean thought she wanted to be a veterinarian. Eventually, she came to understand her calling was to care for people instead.

Finding her lane

Originally from Iowa, Bean’s family lived in Colorado for several years before returning to Center Point, Iowa, in her early teens. She loves Iowa and considers it her home, and she hopes to give back to Iowans through her career as a primary care provider.

“I want to live here because it’s the home for my heart,” she says, “and I can also make a good professional home here, where I feel like I’m making a difference. I could put my finger anywhere on a map of Iowa, and almost every county is going to need doctors. I want my work to feel purposeful.”

Bean earned a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Iowa and grew her skills by working as an emergency medical technician (EMT) during college. The experience gave her firsthand exposure to the barriers many Iowans face when trying to access the care they need, especially in rural areas.

“We’re a very geographically large state, and some people have to travel really far for their care,” she says. “Being an EMT made me think a lot about how to work within that system and leverage it well.”

The problem-solving skills she honed through her engineering degree gave her a different perspective on patient care.

“I might not use all my engineering skills in medicine, but the way they train you to think as an algorithmic problem solver – that's something I use every day,” Bean says.

Bean found that she loved everything she learned in medical school, from babies to elderly patients and everything in between. Most of all, she loved forming relationships with patients.

Bean believes that primary care doctors play an important role in helping patients from smaller communities access the care they need — whether it be with her, with local specialists, or with a more resourced health system like UI Health Care. Throughout the process, she hopes to remain a constant presence in her patients’ lives, helping them navigate a health care system that can often feel confusing. She compares her role to being an old-school telephone operator, helping all the calls reach the right destination.

Medical school also taught her the importance of teamwork.

“I originally thought that if I worked in a small town someday, I'd be the only provider and do everything by myself,” she says. “As I rotated through rural critical access hospitals, I realized that you have to be a team player. You need specialists, and you need each person to be passionate and good at what they do. You learn to run in your lane, so that together, you can provide a better standard of care.”

Ultimately, her experiences in medical school shaped her decision on where to do her residency training.

“If you want to be a really good physician, I think you should train for the population you're going to care for,” Bean says. “For me, that meant staying in Iowa. And if I want to train to the highest level, I should train where the sickest people in Iowa go, and that's here [at UI Health Care].”

What is medical residency?

After completing allopathic medical school, a person has earned their Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree, officially giving them the title of “Dr.” But they aren’t quite ready to provide care solo yet. First, they must complete another stage of training – medical residency. During residency training, new doctors (known as “residents”) are full-time employees of the hospital or clinic who work under the supervision of a more experienced doctor, known as the “attending.” This period of training is intensive, and residents gain more independence as they move through the program and gain experience. By the time they have completed residency – usually three to seven years, depending on the specialty – they are ready to practice independently, but some may go on to a fellowship training program to gain specific experience in a narrower medical field, called a “sub-specialty.”

Taking the baton

Now, Bean gets to take all the training she’s gained so far, lace up her shoes, and start running the race for real. The new level of autonomy has deepened her sense of meaning in her work.

“I am a person who wants to work hard and see the effect of my work at the end of the day,” Bean says. “My attendings rely on me. My patients need me to counsel them and educate them. It feels good to have this level of responsibility.”

There have been difficulties, of course. Getting used to the pace of a busy clinic schedule has taken some adjustment, and working night shifts isn’t easy. And, from time to time, she has felt some nerves.

“Instead of training for the race, now I'm in my lane, and I get to run with my baton,” Bean says. “At the beginning, I am nervous, like any racer is at the start line. Will I do a good job, after all the time and money and education that has been poured into me? That can be a lot of mental pressure. But I also think that’s a good perspective to have — this was all given to me, and now, it's my turn to give it back.”

She has the support of attending physicians like her mentor, Brigit Ray, MD, MME, to help her along the way.

“Having a good coach makes a difference when you’re training for any high-level skill, and this is no different,” Bean says.

As the first person in her family to pursue a career in health care, Bean sometimes felt like she didn’t have the same background as some of her medical school peers. Now, she values the opportunity to pass the baton to others because she remembers being in their shoes.

“I try to be super welcoming for students,” she says. “I get to learn from my attendings, teach students, and care for patients. I get to discuss cases with my co-residents and ask their opinions. It's a fun new role to have."

Right now, it’s still too early to say exactly where her career path will take her. But Bean knows the most important thing: the way she wants her patients to feel.

“Showing people that they're cared for is the whole reason I'm doing this job,” she says. "Sometimes that's not just medical needs. Sometimes patients just need someone to listen.”