Medical school: University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York
Christopher Keenan’s younger brother experienced a spontaneous pneumothorax in high school and required video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) for repair.
“All that meant to teenage me was that my brother’s lung had ’exploded‘ and the physicians were going to ’fix’ him,” Keenan said. “My gratitude for their intervention and awe at their expertise never left me, planting the seed of medicine as a possible career.”
Keenan developed an interest in anesthesiology in medical school while helping an anesthesiology resident move a piano through a comically small door.
“In between exclamations of frustration that the piano just wouldn’t fit, he answered dozens of questions about the field,” Keenan said. “Interest piqued, I dug deeper and found that anesthesiologists were devoted to their patients and wielded a pharmacologic arsenal to manage fluctuations in their health in real-time.”
Keenan and his family are excited to move to Omaha, and he is eager to get started. He is most looking forward to working with and learning from UNMC faculty, watching his kids grow up in Omaha and striving to develop innovations in anesthesiology delivery and technology.
List some accomplishments you are proud of:
- My team from Simon Business School finished second at the 2019 Yale Healthcare Case Competition.
- I had, and kept alive, two kids during medical school (though this is more my outstanding spouse’s accomplishment than mine).
- I helped design and direct a novel program for folks recovering from addiction and personally taught the module on finance.
Three things about you that others may not know:
- Not to brag, but I hold the Clow Elementary School Fourth Grade sit-up record.
- My favorite snack is pickles and peanut butter. (Try it — it’s amazing!)
- As a test of willpower, my sister-in-law and I are going a year without desserts. My wife had — and still has — no interest in joining the challenge.