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Name<\/strong>: Joe Ciccone, MD<\/span><\/p>\n Class Year<\/strong>: 1997<\/span><\/p>\n Organization Name<\/strong>: Optum MA<\/span><\/p>\n Title:<\/strong> Chief of Urologic Surgery<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 1. In one sentence, what does your job entail?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>Caring for patients with both surgical and non-surgical conditions of the urinary system in men and women.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 2. What planned and unplanned events connected you to your industry and your first employer after Holy Cross? How did you learn\/decide it was a good fit for you?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Through a family connection I met Noelle Lawler, a PA at what was then Harvard Vanguard\u2019s Fenway office. As a starving art student, she gave me a job as a medical assistant when I was about 21 and the rest was history.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 3. What were you involved in when you were on campus?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>Football, Track, Improv Comedy, and was an English Major with a concentration on writing (poetry).<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 4. What was your major and how did it affect your career decisions?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>My English major led me to graduate school at Emerson College. This experience was enough to know that a career as a writer was not for me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 5. What are one or two skills that you developed at Holy Cross that you use in your work?<\/strong><\/p>\n Certainly writing and communication are major skills for a surgeon and department leader. Mostly, I learned how to challenge myself intellectually and physically. Both of these skills allowed me to succeed in medical school and residency while managing a young family.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 6. What advice do you have for students on campus today?<\/strong><\/p>\n Play the slow game. Take classes across multiple disciplines and become well-rounded and maximally enriched. Do not feel pressured to get into medical school as soon as humanly possible. Enjoy the ride. Travel. Be with friends.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Name: Joe Ciccone, MD Class Year: 1997 Organization Name: Optum MA Title: Chief of Urologic Surgery \u00a0 1. In one sentence, what does your job entail? \u00a0Caring for patients with both surgical and non-surgical conditions of the urinary system in men and women.\u00a0 2. What planned and unplanned events connected you to your industry … <\/p>\n