Elizabeth Marriott, MD, first became interested in neurology as a medical student, when she observed the overlaps between behavioral health and neurological disease. Now, as our newest faculty member at Duke Raleigh, she’s heading the hospital’s stroke program and managing other neurological conditions in the inpatient setting. In this week’s “Spotlight” interview, Marriott talks about how her current work compares to her previous positions, what she misses about her nine years in Milwaukee, and enjoying the North Carolina weather (at least for now), and visiting parks, reading, and baking when she’s not at work.
What are your current responsibilities within the Department? What does a typical day for you look like?
I currently manage the inpatient neurology consultation service as the neurohospitalist at Duke Raleigh, and am also the Stroke Director for our stroke program. After arriving in the morning, I round on all the inpatient neurology consults and see new consults throughout the day, and my day also includes meetings with various providers around the hospital to work on quality improvement and program development.
How did you first become interested in neurology, and in treating patients with stroke in particular?
I became very interested in neurology as a medical student, during my psychiatry rotation, when I saw a lot of overlap between behavioral health and neurological disease. I looked for further opportunities to develop more experience with neurology, and really appreciated how neurological disease affected the patients' ability to function, live their daily lives, and their interactions with friends and family. Stroke was not only interesting to me as how it affects the daily lives of my patients, but also as a disease process, it has been so interesting to see the developments of stroke treatment in the last ten years, what advancements have been made.
Before coming to Duke you worked at Premier Health/Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio, and Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center in Milwaukee. What’s the biggest change you’ve encountered between these health systems and Duke?
I worked at Premier Health/Miami Valley Hospital from 2016-2018, and I was at Aurora St. Luke's from 2009 - 2016. Both were large, community based health systems, and differed somewhat from Duke in the overall scope and mission, in terms of focus on education and research. However, I think there are a lot of great opportunities to further grow the Neurology Department and I am excited to be a part of it.
What do you miss most about Milwaukee? What has been the biggest surprise for you about living in the Triangle?
The thing I miss most about Milwaukee are the friends that we made in 9 years of living in Wisconsin. We miss the food, as Milwaukee is such a great restaurant city, as well as the music festivals every summer. However, we are greatly enjoying living in the Triangle, I think the biggest surprise is how much we are enjoying the weather change!
What other passions or hobbies do you have outside of the Department?
Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my husband, two children, and two dogs. I like to bake and read, but also we enjoy taking our children to parks, movies, and arcades.