Austin, Texas native Dr. Dakota Schumacher started pursuing a Neurology career after his experience shadowing a neurologist in undergrad exemplified just how critical a physical neurology exam could be for making a diagnosis and developing a relationship with the patient. He hasn’t looked back since, and following residency he plans to pursue fellowship training in Movement Disorders. His wife, Kathryn, works as a nurse on the Neurology floor at Vanderbilt, allowing the couple to work together frequently. Their home in Hermitage provides nearby parks for their new puppy to play, and Dr. Schumacher makes the most of the long commute with his favorite podcasts.
Tell us about your background.
I was born and raised in Austin, Texas. I attended Baylor University where I pursued an undergraduate degree in biology. After that I went to medical school at UT Medical in Galveston, which is just south of Houston. While attending school there, I actually lived in Houston, and made the one hour commute every day because I wanted to live with my now-wife.
What piqued your interest in Neurology?
During my original introduction to Neurology as an undergrad, I volunteered at a psychiatric clinic. Once a week a neurologist came into the clinic, and I got to see him perform his exam and interact with the patients. He was able to use the information he gathered from an exam and already have an idea of what was going on with a patient. That was very intriguing for me. What I love most about Neurology is that you’re forced to interact and build a relationship with a patient, and you can often start making a diagnosis and offering treatments without needing to wait on additional testing, which is not always the case with other fields of medicine.
What are your Neurology specialization interests and why?
I’m going to be applying for a Movement Disorder fellowship shortly. My biggest interest is having long-term relationships with patients, and really focus on the neurological exam, so outpatient neurology and movement disorders best fits the bill.
What have been some of the highlights and challenges of residency so far?
As far as challenges, I would say the pace of work was a steep learning curve, especially starting off in internal medicine (intern year) when I knew it wasn’t what it wanted to do long-term.
The highlights are my relationships with my co-residents and attendings, and feeling like I can be part of this large community. Feeling like I can contribute to that community even as a resident and building those friendships has been really rewarding. On the patient care side of things, the highlight is the impact I’m able to have on them, even in a short window of their lives. It’s only been two and a half years, but it feels rewarding to start to build long-term relationships with them.
What do you think will stand out most at the end of your residency?
That’s hard to answer while I’m living in it, but two things stand out. First, the relationships I have with my attendings and feeling like I was mentored appropriately. Second, as a PGY-2 resident on call overnight, there was a moment I felt like I could handle things on my own. I was orchestrating a stroke alert for a patient on my own in a sort of “sink-or-swim” moment. I can look back at that moment and recognize that’s when I felt comfortable and the moment I felt like I had grown a lot.
Do you have plans for your career after residency?
My ultimate goal is to work in an outpatient practice with a mixture of movement disorders and general neurology. I like the broad aspects of neurology as well as movement disorders, so I don’t want to lose that.
What are some of your interests and hobbies outside of work?
My wife and I live out in the suburbs so we’re homebodies! Outside of that, though, we like to go kayaking around Middle Tennessee. The Harpeth River is probably our favorite river for kayaking and the one we do most often. There’s a greenway by Percy Priest Lake, so we take our dog out there and go to the dog park nearby too. I’m really into podcasts, especially with my commute from Hermitage. We like to do jigsaw puzzles as our wintertime activity. We also like to cook. More specifically, Kathryn cooks and I taste!
Do you have any favorite podcasts you would recommend?
My favorite of all time is The History of Rome, but it is 200 episodes, so it is pretty long. 99% Invisible is another one of my favorites, and is more approachable.
Do you have any favorite restaurants in and around Nashville?
The Pharmacy is one of our favorites. We are also big fans of Tito’s Mexican Grill in Nolansville. I think that one is a local chain, but it is still really good!
What does your morning routine look like?
The routine changed a bit recently as now we have a six-month-old puppy. One of us gets up first and then wakes the other up, usually because the puppy has decided to get up. So we rotate the puppy chores, and then the other one just gets to go to work and listen to podcasts.
Anything else we should know?
My wife works on the Neurology floor as a nurse. We get to work together pretty frequently which is nice. People usually ask if we met in the hospital or in medical school, since we are both in the medical field. But we actually met in undergrad. We both volunteered at a camp for kids with cancer called Camp Quality Texas. It was a one-to-one camper/counselor ratio, and my camper was the brother of her camper.
