Shirene Philipose comes from a family tied to medicine, and it’s always interested her. It took on even more meaning after she became a patient herself.
“Being a physician is so meaningful,” she said. “As a patient with a chronic illness, seeing the physicians show up for me every day while I was in the hospital or when I came to clinic and seeing me through lots of my challenges has really reinforced that I want to do the same and be there for my patients.”
Dr. Philipose earned her undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She chose to pursue an internal medicine residency at the University of Kansas Medical Center and to practice internal medicine because it allows her to know a bit about everything and apply that to her patients’ health. She knows what it’s like to be a patient, so she can relate to her patients and help provide encouragement.
“I knew internal medicine was a place I needed to be after I received my lung transplant. I sat down with a patient in a primary care clinic and talked about what that pre-transplant phase looked like,” she explained. “Being able to encourage this patient and show her what life post-transplant could look like, I knew primary care itself was my calling. Spending those moments and sharing that time with patients is really special.”
