RTDM: Catherine Passaretti

Catherine Passaretti
Medical Director of Infection Prevention for Atrium Health, Associate Professor Internal Medicine
Charlotte, NC

We want to get to know you! Briefly tell us about yourself: Where you came from, where you've been and how you're living your dream?

Two things impacted my life course, pretty much from a very young age. 1) My mom was a home health care nurse in a small town in upstate New York and starting when I was a toddler would take me with her to see patients 2) I'm an identical twin to a loving, outgoing, passionate, beautiful soul (identical in appearance, VERY different in personality). From my mom I got an early front row seat to the field of medicine that showed me that those in the medical field can have a big impact on patients and vice versa. From my sister who was always more... let's say... vocal and emotionally open, I became (for the sake of my parents surviving raising twins) the go with the flow part of our duo - I was quieter, typically found with my nose in a book, always drawn to math and science. Heading towards a career in medicine felt... natural... I grew up as "one of the twins" so when the time came for college, I felt the need to develop my own personality and for the first time in my life took a different path from my sister. I headed to Johns Hopkins to major in biology while she went to Vanderbilt to major in psych and education. I ended up staying at Hopkins for med school and doing an internship/residency in Internal Medicine there as well. Despite feeling a clear calling to medicine I wasn't sure exactly what type of medicine I wanted to practice. Fate stepped in during my last year of residency and I was asked if i had any interest in taking an open spot in the Hopkins Infectious Diseases Fellowship - I loved the logic of ID, (at the time) the promising future of HIV treatment and the potential to help people so ended up accepting the spot. While in fellowship I was expected to do a research year and ended up working with an AMAZING group of strong, smart women in the field of Infection Prevention which allowed me to delve into both the clinical AND administrative side of infectious diseases/medicine. I worked at Hopkins for a few years but my mom passed away from metastatic endometrial cancer - her illness and ultimate passing made me reevaluate where I wanted to go with my life. I had been at Hopkins in one form or another for 16 years at that point. I wanted/needed to grow - before I knew it I had accepted a system level job based in Charlotte as Medical Director of Infection Prevention for what is now Atrium Health. Every day is a new adventure - In any given day in the past eight years in my current role I never know whether I'm going to have to sleuth out the source of an outbreak of multidrug resistant bacteria, deal with the highly infectious disease of the minute (Measles, MERS, Ebola... ) or deal with the media. I've diagnosed and treated many individual patients and I've spearheaded programs/initiatives that hopefully help make our hospitals safer for all who enter our doors - for this nerd who likes variety and whose mom was a public health nurse, that's a pretty great gig!

How do you define success?

Making a difference - to my patients, to my hospitals, to my colleagues, and to my students

What did it take to make your dream happen and how do you make it sustainable?

A LOT of hard work and a non-small amount of luck/fate stepping in. Sustainability and balance are always a challenge - I'm an all in kinda gal at work which has the potential to lead to burn out... Having said that quality time with those I love, getting some kind of physical activity in daily and cuddle time with my two furballs (Vlad and Cea) go a loonnnggg way toward keeping me sane

What are you most proud of? Go ahead, boast a little!

Honestly my proudest moments probably have to do with individual patients not necessarily what others would consider "big" things I've done at work or awards I've received - it's getting a random message months later from the wife of a patient who had since passed away telling me what a difference I made to her and her husband in their time of need, it's keeping calm in the middle of a situation where we are ruling out Ebola when surrounded by chaos and fear, it's fighting for things I truly believe will improve patient care and finding out that that work paid off and made patients safer.... those are the things that keep me coming back

What was your biggest obstacle/fear and what was your turning point?

Growing up as the quieter twin, I HATED being the center of attention. Thru my 16 years at Hopkins, I honestly did my best to fade into the background. When my mom passed away and I moved to Charlotte to take my new role, I no longer had the option to hide - I was forced to put myself out there. Since then I've presented to large audiences, board members, run (a gazillion) meetings, given multiple media interviews and press conferences and before long realized I wasn't half bad...

What’s the best advice you’d give to a younger you?

Don't worry, you get way better with age

How do you stay motivated and purposeful when you feel overwhelmed?

As a self professed strong woman, I hesitate to say this but to be honest the answer is my husband - he is in a completely different field but has a way of helping me find perspective/centering me around what's important and talking me down every single time...

Tell us a time when a perceived failure was actually a blessing in disguise or served you in a surprising way.

I've been told no a lot at work - in my health system role I often am in the position where i have to make a case for interventions that aren't always cheap or part of the pre-allocated budget - being told no (the first one or two... or ten times ) has taught me a LOT of persistence and how to be creative in the re-approach! It also has taught me the importance of picking and choosing what is most important to fight for and letting the littler things go (not traditionally a strength of mine!)

What is your favorite vice/guilty pleasure/strange habit? Come on now, we all have them!

Baking sweets and shopping sales for cute, discounted clothes when I'm stressed.

What's the smartest investment you’ve made for yourself?

Dancing lessons! I love my teacher, Felipe - it's like therapy, exercise and pushing my bubble/comfort zone all at the same time!

What’s MOST important to you right now?

My dad has end stage frontotemporal dementia (horrible, brutal disease that has stolen his ability to communicate and move) and is currently on home hospice. While I can't predict how much longer he has, work has had to take a back burner to being present for him and my family as much as possible.

Share 1-2 books that have impacted you the most:

When Breath Becomes Air , The Hot Zone

What have you learned to say no to?

Have some work to do on saying no and delegating - not a strength of mine!

What's something surprising about you?

I never drank coffee until earlier this year at the age of 42.... Also I curse regularly

Who is a Risk Taker Dream Maker(s) that has inspired you?

Robyn Stacy-Humphries