She started her life in a newborn ICU in Modesto. Now she’s studying medicine there
Emma Towslee’s study toward a medical degree has brought her full circle — to the intensive care unit in Modesto where she began her life.
She was briefly in the Neonatal ICU at Doctors Medical Center right after her birth in 1996 to Laura Wood and Jason Towslee. She got two days of extra care because both she and her mom ran fevers.
Fast forward a quarter-century, and Towslee is making rounds in the very same ward as part of her study through St. George’s University in Grenada. She observes doctors caring for babies born prematurely or with other complications that could keep them from going home for weeks.
The four-week stint is the last of several Towslee has done at Doctors since November 2020 to learn about various specialties. It will end Friday, Oct. 22.
St. George’s has such contracts with 29 hospitals around the nation. Students can state a preference but are not guaranteed a spot.
“The odds of Doctors being one of them are just so small,” Towslee said.
She spoke by phone with The Modesto Bee on Thursday, Oct. 14, two days after her 25th birthday.
Part of childhood in Modesto
Towslee spent part of her childhood in Modesto, attending Sipherd Elementary School, then moved to Rocklin.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in biology at Sonoma State University before enrolling in the four-year medical program in Grenada. Classes were live in the Caribbean island nation until COVID-19 forced them online.
Towslee’s final year of study consists entirely of the four-week rotations in specialties such as emergency medicine, psychiatry, pediatrics and intensive care. She will end the process with two each at San Joaquin General Hospital and a hospital in Detroit.
Towslee will graduate next April and hopes to do a three-year residency in pediatrics at a hospital to be determined. She might follow that with another three years of training in endocrinology, inspired by her own diagnosis of type 1 diabetes at 17. She hopes to eventually practice in the Central Valley.
Towslee obviously does not remember her first stay in the ICU, among fellow newborns hooked up to monitors and other devices. But her return visit has shown her how much this kind of care has progressed.
“Babies are able to live at younger ages, and so that’s a huge advancement,” she said.
DMC can care for children born as early as the 23rd week of pregnancy, said an email from Krista Deans, public relations and communications manager.
The youngest weigh about one pound as they enter the care of the DMC staff. It is a Level III neonatal unit, handling serious issues but not the critical cases of Level IV. The latter go to hospitals outside Stanislaus County, including Valley Children’s near Madera and several in the Bay Area and Sacramento.
Reconnecting with family doctor
This story has another twist. After the newborn Towslee left the ICU for home, she came under the care of her family’s regular physician, Dr. Eric Ramos. He is now chief medical officer at Doctors, overseeing every department.
Towslee said her training has not brought her into much contact with Ramos, but they have reconnected in brief meetings.
“I do remember him as a child,” she said. “He’s just a very compassionate man.”
Towslee said she also wanted to express “how grateful I am to everybody at Doctors Medical Center for helping further my education, teaching me new skills in how to be a better doctor.”
This story was originally published October 17, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
