For someone who spends her days in the operating room, carefully mapping the neurological landscape of patients during surgery, Dr. Heidi Grundy Kaufman’s P'27 own path to that OR did not follow a clear trajectory. As students in Pennington’s Applied Science Certificate Program heard last week, Kaufman first obtained her undergraduate degree in early childhood education from Duquesne University. Four years later, a complete course shift saw Kaufman earning her Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Logan University College of Chiropractic; she now has over 15 years of experience monitoring patients during surgeries involving the brain and spinal cord and is a board certified expert in surgical neurophysiology. 

Today, Kaufman is a managing partner at Nervana Neuromonitoring. Her talk last week, entitled “Live Wires: An Overview of Surgical Neurophysiology,” touched upon the history of neuromonitoring, which first began in 1975 to treat scoliosis in teenagers. During Thursday's lecture, students were able to handle an actual surgical device: a titanium, subdural electrode strip used on the brain surface during surgery to map functions like motor movement and vision. Kaufman stressed the importance of such a tool, emphasizing that her job has zero margin for error. 

Mindful that the majority of students in attendance are interested in a future career in STEM, Kaufman gave students an honest assessment of the neuromonitoring field, stating firmly that, “Surgery done well is actually boring. It is not Grey’s Anatomy.” Students expecting nonstop danger and excitement, according to Kaufman, will likely be disappointed, but she praised how financially, emotionally, and professionally rewarding the field truly is. “You get the opportunity to be of service to someone on the scariest day of their life. They’re scared, and their family is scared, and you get to be there for them.”

While Kaufman spent a fair amount of time sharing details about her current role, at the heart of her lecture was the notion that technology, such as AI, is quickly changing the world of healthcare, and none of us can fully know what the future holds. As she told the audience, “My job didn’t exist when I was your age, and there will be jobs created in the future that you and I can’t even imagine now.” Her advice for students was to “pick a major where you study something you enjoy,” adding, “The career will sort itself out, the money will sort itself out. Just find the thing you’re passionate about and go in that general direction.”