The car windshield had shattered, cutting a gash in the victim’s arm. The intern with physician Rosalyn Reades (’02) at the accident scene took one look at the blood and lost her nerve, the reaction of many.
Reades, however, does not fret over blood — or whatever challenges a typical day on the job in emergency medicine might throw at her. The profession calls for strong leadership and unflappable calmness whenever the pressure’s on.
“In an emergency situation, you have to take charge,” says Reades, who passed the written portion of the American Board of Emergency Medicine exam last November and relocated to Dallas this summer, accepting a position as an emergency medicine physician at Methodist Charlton Medical Center. “You can’t panic, because people depend on you.”
That attitude also served Reades well as a student-athlete at UNT. She finished her career as the all-time leader of the women’s basketball program in assists and steals and was named to the UNT Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007. Reades also became only the second UNT student to be named a semifinalist for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship.
Now, she’s using her leadership skills to help save lives in her new job, one she landed after serving a yearlong post-residency fellowship at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C. As part of her on-the-job administrative training there, she worked emergency-room shifts and responded to emergency calls, helping train paramedics on the scene.
“She keeps the big picture in mind and tackles the tough problems first,” says Malika Fair, a physician who was in residency with Reades. “She is cool and calm under pressure, and all of us around her tried to emulate this.”
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Rosalyn Reades
From a young age, Reades knew what she wanted to be when she grew up. In high school, she volunteered as a file clerk in the radiology department of a local hospital and assisted physicians with small tasks, such as taking blood pressure.
Reades, who earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry at UNT and graduated from the University Honors Program, now the Honors College, credits the support she received from Jean Schaake, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and others with helping her get into medical school.
As a UNT junior, Reades applied for — and was accepted into — the medical school program at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. She graduated from the program in 2006 and completed a three-year residency in emergency medicine at Carolinas Medical Center before beginning her fellowship.
“She embodies great intellectual talent, academic preparation and athletic expertise, along with fine character,” says Gloria Cox, dean of the Honors College. “It is thrilling to see that she is now a doctor.”
Reades’ new position in Dallas requires her to face constant pressure. Just the way she likes it.
“I couldn’t imagine doing anything different,” she says.
