Skip to contents
In This Issue:
Meet Laura Bontempo, MD
Each year, the Department of Emergency Medicine receives more than 500 applications from talented young physicians hoping to begin their careers as one of the 13 Emergency Medicine residents selected annually at BWH. So what draws these aspiring men and women to Emergency Medicine? Laura Bontempo, MD, associate director of the Emergency Medicine Residency Program, can tell you from personal experience.
A graduate of Northwestern University’s seven-year honors program in Medical Education, Bontempo maintains that it only took a single rotation in Emergency Medicine to convince her that it was the specialty that she wanted to pursue. “I spent my first-ever time in the ED as a second-year medical student,” recalls Bontempo. “That four hours literally changed my life. I had the rare opportunity to see a patient, who had come in acutely sick, get better in that short period of time. In reality, this is only a small percent of what we do, but what a great reward in life nonetheless.”
Bontempo went on to complete her residency in Emergency Medicine at Northwestern, after which the native of Long Island set her sights on Boston as the place she wanted to practice. “I only considered hospitals that had existing programs in Emergency Medicine residency, as I knew it was something I wanted to focus on,” she said. In 1999, Bontempo joined BWH as an attending physician and shortly thereafter was appointed associate residency director in Emergency Medicine. For the past four years, Bontempo has worked closely with Residency Director Eric Nadel, MD, to affect the structure and growth of the program, implementing several new ideas and concepts.
“Residency is a challenging time in life,” said Bontempo. “As a resident in Emergency Medicine, I felt that there were certain opportunities for improvement and better support networks that could be put in place, and I wanted to have a hand in making that happen.”
Bontempo serves as a mentor for residents, providing insight and guidance from her own personal perspective to the new clinicians. “It is so rewarding to watch the person you interview for a residency spot evolve as a clinician,” said Bontempo. “They don’t realize how much they’ve learned, until one of the first-year residents is suddenly coming to them to ask questions. Working with residents is an extremely humbling experience. They amaze me every day.”
A 2002 Dennis J. Thomson Compassionate Care Scholar (see related article below), Bontempo also serves as the faculty Sexual Assault Liaison for the ED. In addition, she is the course director for the national course “Emergency Medicine into the 21st Century,” for which physicians from across the country come to learn cutting-edge news in Emergency Medicine.
The fourth in a series that highlights emerging clinical leaders at BWH.