Dr. Trout Interview

Was there a defining moment when you just knew you wanted to be a physician?

“You know, I loved learning all of that medicine, even at age twelve. At that time, I told my mom that I wanted to be a nurse like her, and my mom said ‘No, you should go ahead and be a doctor some day.’ So I did!”

Besides your mother, was there anyone else who inspired you, or who you considered a role model?

“I guess I had two role models actually. The second would be my dad. He is a metallurgist, he studied the structures of metals, and he would let me come to his lab and play with the liquid nitrogen and look under the microscopes and fun stuff like that. He definitely stimulated the scientific adventurer in me.”

With two educated parents, was there a huge emphasis on school and studying and good grades for you?

“Yes, for sure. My mom modeled great study habits; she graduated third in her class at Columbia despite taking care of three young kids, a husband, and a household at the same time.”

Besides your interest in being a physician, did you have other passions when you were younger?

“I was once a ballerina. I studied ballet with the Garden State Ballet until I was 18, and my knees were so bad I had to have surgery. That’s when I decided that my brain might last longer than my knees, so I made the final decision to be a doctor, and I’ve never looked back!”

How has your personal struggle with infertility made you a better doctor?

“I tell patients all the time, ‘I have been through this. If I tell you it’s not going to hurt, it’s not going to hurt; and if I tell you it’s going to hurt, it’s going to hurt.’ I see myself in my patient’s struggles every day, and I know what they are going through. It’s definitely made me a better doctor.”

Do you have a specific memory of an outcome with a patient that you are exceptionally proud of, or happy with?

“Oh, there are so many wonderful couples that I am proud to have helped. It’s hard to pick just one! If I had to pick one to tell you about, however, it would be a couple named Marie and Joseph. She had to do IVF, and we took her eggs out on Easter Sunday, and she only had one egg. I thought to myself, don’t give up, there’s still a chance, and she got pregnant! When we figured it out, her due date was Christmas Day. I told her that I absolutely believe in miracles. I see them every day! She came back and had a second baby with us too!”

What is your favorite thing about working directly with your patients?

“I love making that connection with them, helping them, getting to know them, and rooting for them. They give me so much energy. I’m really good at computers too, but I could never sit in front of a computer screen all day. I need to be with people.”

What advancements in fertility medicine do you see in the near future?

“I think we are going to find a way to look at an embryo and tell whether it’s going to be able to make a pregnancy and whether it’s going to be a normal pregnancy or not. We may get to the point of being able to improve the quality of older women’s eggs so that they can get pregnant with their own genetic child. I also think we’re soon going to have medication which doesn’t need to be injected. That would be nice.”

If you could do anything with your career in the future, what would it be?

“I would love to find a way to help older women have babies with their own eggs; that would be a wonderful thing to have done.”