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former hospital administrator now a doctor

Brian Lahmann, 39, worked closely with doctors for years as a hospital administrator, all the while harboring a dream to be one of them.

As time went on, the dream pushed closer to the surface until it burst in his early 30s.

“It got to a point where I thought, if I’m going to do this, I just have to do it,” he said. “I realized that being a doctor was what I always wanted to do. For a while, it was okay to do the next best thing — run a hospital as a business administrator, but I had my midlife crisis early and couldn’t see myself doing that for another 25 years. It wasn’t making me happy.”

Lahmann admired those physician colleagues who took time out of extremely busy schedules to stop and truly listen to patients. He was also impressed with those doctors who were down to earth.

“That’s how I want to approach my work with patients, by making that personal connection. I want to be known as Brian, who happens to be Dr. Lahmann, and who can help people get better,” he said.

Ever seeking variety in his work life, Lahmann has chosen to specialize in emergency medicine and will begin a residency at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Camden this summer.

“I was surprised to learn in medical school that I really enjoyed each rotation — obstetrics, psychiatry, surgery — and wanted to find a way to be involved with all of these different types of patients.

Emergency medicine was the answer because it delivers care to a huge cross-section of the population: old, young, rich, poor, women and kids. I know myself, and I can’t do the same thing every day.”

Lahmann’s goal was to begin residency training by the time he was 40 years old. And though most of his fellow students were in their mid-20s, he never felt out of place in medical school.

“I have to say that students at Temple were so remarkable — very mature and articulate. Everyone was just so supportive, knowing that I had a family and just treating me the same as everyone else,” he said. Lahmann and his partner Doug have a 4-year-old daughter, Helen, who was born just six months before medical school started.

“No one blinked an eye when my daughter was sick and I needed to reschedule a lecture. I don’t think I would’ve gotten that at other med schools.”

Though Lahmann was happy to discover such supportive colleagues at Temple, he originally chose Temple for professional reasons.

“Temple has a reputation for producing good, strong clinicians — doctors who can practice great medicine on the front lines,” he said.

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- By Eryn Jelesiewicz

April 28, 2006

Contact Information:

Office of News Communications
Eryn Jelesiewicz, Director
Phone: (215) 707-0730
Fax: (215) 707-2940
eryn.jelesiewicz@temple.edu