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How Serendipity Shaped My Life

By Kyle J. Chepla, MD

While thinking about my response to this month’s question, I was surprised to realize the extent that my life, both professionally and personally, has been shaped and influenced by multiple serendipitous events throughout my medical career. I think many of us have probably had similar experiences and in this month’s Perspectives I wanted to reflect on how those events have shaped my life and led me to where I am now.

I always knew I wanted to be a surgeon like my dad and was planning on a career in orthopedics until a month of total joints and the counsel of Robert Ruberg changed that. I also had no intention of moving back to Cleveland, but the match didn’t factor that in. There, at the start of a plastic surgery residency, I planned on becoming a craniofacial surgeon until a rotation at our trauma hospital introduced me to the field of hand and upper extremity surgery and I knew immediately it was what I wanted to do. Part of this decision was the direct result of working with Roderick Jordan and Bram Kaufman who would later transition from mentors to partners and friends. It was also around this time that I mustered up the courage to ask out a very nice and very attractive (I hope she reads this) anesthesia assistant named Alyson that I was able to corner by the coffee machine in the OR lounge. We got married during my chief year surrounding by family and friends both old (before residency) and new (from residency).

Another match and the worst moving experience of my life landed us in a third story walk-up, 600 square foot attic-space in Pittsburgh where I bumped my head on the ceiling almost daily. Other than that, it was an unbelievable year. I still count many of my co-fellows as friends and I would not be where I am without the training, guidance, and help from the all of the faculty there especially the program directors Mark Baratz and Joe Imbriglia. The best part of that year however was the birth of our daughter Alena who turned that terrible apartment into our first home.

On purpose, we moved back to Cleveland after fellowship and things have continued to change in ways that I never planned. Peter Evans got me involved in the Cleveland Combined Hand Fellowship, Bill Seitz has provided invaluable career advice, Kevin Malone got me involved in the upper extremity amputee clinic and Michael Keith introduced me to the field of surgery for tetraplegia. We also decided to have a second child and ended up with twin boys Alec and Chris.

Everything that has happened didn’t always seem serendipitous at the time; but I am so happy with how things turned out so far that it’s difficult to imagine what my life might be like if anything had gone differently.

Thanks to everyone who helped along the way.

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