March 15, 2021

My Why: Dr. Tiffany Rickbeil

Central, Clinical Partners

 

Before deciding to go to medical school, I planned to become a lawyer. But I worked for a law firm throughout college and knew before I graduated that it wasn’t for me. Yet I hadn’t quite figured out my path. Then a couple of years after graduation I was thinking maybe pharmacy and wanted to do something where I would help others but really use my brain. About that time, unfortunately, my sister was in a bad car accident and suffered a severe brain injury. She was hospitalized for at least 45 days, of which 30 were in the ICU. I started to discover then that I wanted to be a doctor.

For my patients, I will be that advocate for them. 

It was interesting because it was the excellent care she received and sometimes the not-so-excellent care she received that both informed my decision to be a physician. She definitely had people on her care team who were very supportive and positive, but we were lucky to have friends in medicine. One of our friends at a major institution called his friend who was the head of the department where my sister was a patient and suddenly, we were treated differently. I guess I would say one of my goals is to provide that level of care where you have an advocate. For my patients, I will be that advocate for them. 

Internal Medicine
River Campus + St. Cloud Hospital