Patrick Monette, MD

Hometown: Westfield, MA

Undergraduate School: Middlebury College

Medical School: Harvard Medical School

Hobbies/Outside Interests: Watching spooky movies, Bravo TV, following Boston sports, visiting local restaurants and breweries, homebrewing mead, playing drums, and finding fun new things to do around town!

Favorite things to do in Charlottesville: I love that Charlottesville manages to have plenty of things to do and places to visit, all while maintaining a more intimate small-town feel. Weekly “Trivia with Olivia” at a local brewery, a weekend scenic winery trip with friends, or a day trip to Richmond, Staunton, or the surrounding Blue Ridge mountains where there’s opportunities to hike, camp, or just drive and enjoy the scenery.

Why did you choose UVA? When it came time to put together a rank list, UVA was absolutely the #1 choice for me. I loved the comraderie amongst the residents, the faculty’s documented and well-awarded commitment to education, and the quality of training and national reputation here which gives UVA grads plenty plenty of opportunities for fellowship and job placement. Additionally, Charlottesville and the surrounding area seemed to be universally loved, and it’s been great getting to experience it all now for myself!

Anesthesiology Interests: I’m applying to cardiothoracic anesthesia fellowship and am interested remaining in academic medicine. I enjoy medical education and am interested in roles in that space.

What’s the best piece of career advice you ever got?: There is the classic adage from Dr. Francis Peabody, “the secret of the care of the patient is in caring for the patient.” Patients can tell when you truly care about them, and I’ve found that the patient and physician experiences mutually benefit when that commitment is there.

Aside from that, just before I started medical school I had a meeting with a mentor who told me to “never lose yourself to medicine.” That is, never forget about who you are, how you got this far, and to take care of yourself along the way. I try to keep that in mind as I enter each new stage of my career, and so far it has served me well.