Elizabeth Dailey, MD, '13

Full name: 
Elizabeth Dailey

Nicknames: 
Dailey, sometimes Lizzy, LD50

Where are you from and where did you attend medical school? What was your favorite non-orthopaedic rotation?
From Moline, IL (home of John Deere). Med school at UIC in Chicago. Most enjoyable non-ortho rotation was Fam Med, I had a great preceptor and learned a ton

When did you decide to pursue Orthopaedic Surgery?

 I came to med school after working in an ortho lab as a tech,  thought ortho was too many hours & too hard core for me.  But I did like the work – and in the end, loved my gen surg rotation enough to consider surgery.  After that, it was easy to pick ortho – I liked the biomechanics and giving people back their quality of life.

What attracted you to the University of Washington?

I rotated on Matsen’s shoulder service & remember loving Seattle in the fall when I visited – cool and cloudy & I remember I liked the smell of the trees.  I don’t think I ever saw Rainier while I was here the first month.  On top of that, I got to do a ton on Matsen’s rotation & loved taking call at HMC.

If you had a month off to do whatever you wanted to relax, what would that be? 

Road trip around the West Coast with my husband.

What 3 things would you bring with you if you got stranded on a island for 1 month? 

My husband & whatever two things he wanted to bring to make us shelter, food, etc.  He’s kind of like MacGuyver, so he’d probably pick a knife and duct tape.

What is the best excuse for being late to something or the best excuse that you have heard?

I don’t think I use excuses much – if I screw up, I own it, say it was my fault & move on.  My mom always said if you say “I’m sorry”, it means, “I won’t let it happen again.”  So I just say I’m sorry and actually try to get better next time.

What is your favorite meal? 

Thanksgiving Dinner

Who is your favorite music artist? 
 Right now, it’s Mayer Hawthorne, I also love the Black Keys, Arcade Fire,  Rush, the National, LMFAO, Spoon,  the Magnetic Fields,  Girl Talk, anything from the 80’s, Weezer, Phish, Pink Floyd…. You name it, I’ll listen to it.

Best color scrubs you have ever worn? 

Pink from Cook County Hospital in Chicago

What is the best advice you have received or could give to medical students pursuing Orthopaedic Surgery/Sports Medicine?

Three things:

1. Make sure that nothing else will make you happy, because it’s a lifetime commitment that starts with a trial by fire.  No matter what you go into, be honest with yourself and what makes you happy.  No residency is easy – if it were easy, everyone would do it.  That being said, I love my job & my patients.
2. Make sure your loved ones are on board – if your significant other hates it when you work late hours, or when your pager goes off, seriously consider doing something that doesn’t require that.  You need support through this process and nothing is worth sacrificing your relationships with your loved ones to do it.
3. If you want to do surgery, pick by the complications you most like dealing with – everybody likes to do the fun first surgery.  It’s when you get into complicated revision surgery that you really are tested – and if you enjoy the challenge of the complications of the surgeries you do, then you’ll be just fine.  For me,  I still like the challenges of repeat debridements, hardware removal and joint pus!