April Physician Spotlight: Emily Valenta, DO

1. Who or what inspired you to be come a physician?

My mom had some influence. She was an RN and worked in hospitals and throughout the healthcare field and always had interesting stories to tell. Also, I always had more of an interest in science classes, compared to math or English. In high school I took an anatomy and physiology class, that was what blew my mind. I was fascinated with how the body worked and healed itself. That is the route I took to get into medicine.

2. Briefly describe a "peak experience" from your career: interaction with a mentor, memorable patient, etc.

The story that comes to mind is a patient I had who was experiencing the early signs of dementia. He was in his late 60’s, recently divorced and there was no other family in the area. After seeing him over the years, I could see the dementia progressing. Knowing he didn’t have any family or anyone in town, we reached out to next of kin who was a daughter out of state. We coordinated what to do moving forward with plan of care because safety is the biggest concern for patients with dementia. The daughter was receptive. Establishing the plan of care aided in avoiding major problems. She was of course busy doing her own thing in another state. We would connect with the daughter on the phone at clinic visits. He was reluctant at first but after having the daughter on the call expressing the concerns, he agreed moving into a living facility was the best plan. The situation was challenging, difficult in a way, but also, we were doing the right thing for his dementia by placing him in a safer environment. It felt good to move in the right direction with the care.

3.  What led you to become involved with El Paso County Medical Society?

Carol McClanahan, MD, MPH asked me to join her at the February 2023 meeting. That is the first time I had gotten involved. I like to stay involved in different organizations in town. I am a member of Colorado Springs Osteopathic Foundation. They have meetings every few months. When this popped up I thought this would be a good experience to get to know other physicians and network, which it was.

4. What advice would you give to physicians-in-training who are just starting their careers?

In training, everything you learn from medical school is straightforward and knowledge based. When you get into practice, it is very much shifted towards administrative work and optimizing the flow of patients in your daily. It can be challenging to go from basic medical knowledge and learning it one way but doing it a different way. As far as advice goes, the best thing I can recommend is to try to persist and stay positive as it can be frustrating transitioning from school into real life practice. The amount of paperwork and administrative tasks are not necessarily what you learn about in medical school. It does get better and more manageable, just stay persistent.

5. What do you enjoy doing outside of medicine?

I like spending time with my family. I have 2 girls now. We also have a dog who takes up a lot of our time with his energy needs. He is a Weimaraner, so he is very high energy. We like to go hiking with him and take him to the park. I also enjoy skiing and hiking quite a bit with my husband and my family. All the fun outdoor Colorado stuff.