Drs. Kimberly and John Bridges, both alumni of UMMC School of Medicine and the Department of Medicine, share their favorite memories of training and what they are up to now.
First tell us about you and your time at UMMC.
Kimberly grew up in Mississippi, John graduated from high school in Texas, and we met in undergrad at Baylor University in Waco, TX (Sic ’em Bears!). Professionally, though, we are both UMMC “born and raised.” Kimberly graduated from UMMC SOM in 2013 and John in 2015. Kimberly continued at UMMC for internal medicine residency and then pulmonary/critical care fellowship, finishing in 2019, the same year John completed his residency in internal medicine/pediatrics. We married during medical school (2011) and had our first son, Oliver, during post-graduate training in 2018. We recently grew our family with another son, Charlie!
Where are you now and what are you doing?
After residency, John matched into combined adult/pediatric rheumatology fellowship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He will complete his fellowship in summer 2023 and stay on as faculty in a clinician educator role. Kimberly has been practicing private practice pulmonary/critical care in Birmingham since 2019, currently with Birmingham Pulmonary Group at St. Vincent’s Hospital.
What do you miss most about UMMC?
So many things. We both certainly miss the colleagues and advisors that guided us through the most intense years of our training; their companionship and mentorship really made UMMC a special place in our hearts.
Mostly, though, we miss Cups coffee.
Share a memory or more of your time here at UMMC.
Ten years is a lot of time to accumulate memories, so we will try to limit to a few.
– John’s band composed of med school classmates performing at many department gatherings (and once at House of Blues — thanks again, Dr. Clark!).
– All the wonderful food and fellowship that came with interview season (before the days of Zoom), particularly those annual road trips to Nashville for karaoke and escape rooms (and, yes, recruitment).
– BeerWith
– Fenian’s karaoke with Barr
– Watching Harry Potter with the team during (occasional) downtime on MICU nights.
– Being terrified on cardiology rounds with Dr. Bennett.
– Dr. Subauste’s endocrinology lectures (I still have those notes!)
Mostly, though, we remember working with and learning from many teams of smart, encouraging co-residents, students, and mentors; y’all inspired us to be better people and doctors every day.
Progress Notes 