CANFIELD, Ohio – Dr. Vasilia Vamvakis doesn’t believe it’s ever too late to go down a different career path or get back on track in your life.
An Athena Award finalist, Vamvakis made a career change from chemical engineer to family practice physician, venturing from one successful career to one that held more purpose and meaning for her.
“I knew at a very young age what my life path should be,” Vamvakis said. “I always wanted to serve people in some way.”
A Youngstown State University graduate with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, Vamvakis said she had considered medicine early on and took classes in genetics and biology in addition to her major.
But she also was selected for the General Electric Operations Management Leadership Program, which rotates employees every six months into different leadership roles within the company. It gave her exposure and experience in a variety of positions within two short years and “catapulted” her career at GE. She advanced to become a multi-site lean leader at six facilities.
“I had a really great career. I met some really great people. I learned a lot. I grew but, basically, I didn’t feel that I was on my life path,” she said.
She took time off after having twin boys and struggled with whether she should stay home with them. When she ultimately did return to work, she said she felt she was a better mother. She had help from friends and family, providing love and care for her children, but she yearned for something more.
“There really was nothing left to give to others, giving to my own parents or my family in a meaningful way. Instead, I was depending on others to have this great career,” Vamvakis said.
That was when she made the decision to pursue “the ultimate care path choice” for her – medicine.
When the twins were about 4 years old, with the support of her family, she started the process that led to her attending NEOMED, which allowed her to stay in the Mahoning Valley near family and pursue her passion.
She also added to her family, with a daughter during her third year of medical school and another son during the second year of her residency.
While specialists may get the higher pedestal, Vamvakis said family practice physicians are the protectors of the patients, looking at the big picture.
“We have the medical knowledge to really provide that final safeguard for the patient, pull all the pieces together. … I think the family doctors are really very critical for patient care,” Vamvakis said.
Athena Nomination
Vicki McGee is a patient and nominated Vamvakis for the Athena Award. McGee was once a nominee and finalist herself in 2017 and said the recognition through the Athena Award changed her life.
McGee said her decision to nominate Vamvakis is not based solely on her own experiences as Vamvakis’ “headstrong” patient. McGee said she also respects her for all she has accomplished in two different science fields with hard work, grace and humbleness.
“You just have touched a lot of lives,” McGee said, adding that many of the people Vamvakis has inspired have reached out to her since the nominations were announced.
Though she is honored to have been selected as an Athena finalist, Vamvakis humbly credits others for helping her along the way.
“I really believe that I’m kind of lucky,” she said. “I’ve been surrounded with beautiful people … a loving family, a supportive family, and I had the resources to do this. So I really don’t like to take on any kind of ownership for any success. I really believe that there have been so many people in my life who have made that a possibility.”
Part of what she believes makes her a successful physician, teacher and mother is her ability to recognize that everyone has different personalities and talents. What works to reach one patient and help them adjust their lifestyle for the good of their overall health may not work for another.
“We call it the art of medicine,” Vamvakis said. “Once the patient understands this doctor is on my side and I have the ability to ask questions and get those questions answered, there is a sense of trust building and I think that’s just so important.”
She emphasizes the importance of talking with patients and discussing things they have read or heard about that may or may not be related to their health. She admits there is a lot of medical misinformation, and balancing a patient with 10 or 15 chronic conditions, often with multiple medications, can become complex.
Teaching and Mentoring
In addition to practicing at the Mercy Health Family Practice clinic in Canfield four days a week, Vamvakis also gives back, teaching and mentoring family medicine residents at the Mercy Health Family Practice clinic on Belmont Avenue in Youngstown one day a week. As the medical residents see the patients, she serves as a preceptor – consulting, discussing their findings and options and then signing off on the best plan. She also mentors internal medical residents.
“I truly love what I do,” Vamvakis said. “I truly do. I love teaching.”
She tells those she is mentoring that once they decide who they are going to be and how hard they are willing to work for it, the life decisions going forward become easier. And then there are the female medical students and residents, who ask her how they can possibly do it with a family.
She admits it can be challenging, but she believes with the right support, balancing a medical career and family is possible.
“Some women might choose not to do it full time. … You can pick the specialty that you want. You can put parameters around how many people that you see so you can protect your time with your family,” Vamvakis said. “I think, in general, women have a lot to offer to the medical profession, and so we want to bring as many women into the profession as possible.”
While female physicians and male physicians may have some different qualities, Vamvakis believes “there is a doctor for everybody.”
Pictured at top: Dr. Vasilia Vamvakis.