HumAnes of UCLA: David Boldt, MD, MS

I grew up in a small town called Makawao on the island of Maui, Hawaii. My great, great, great grandfather immigrated there from the Azores islands in Portugal in 1883 to work on the plantations. They sailed aboard the S.S. Bell Rock, and an excerpt I found online from the ship log states: "The S.S. Bell Rock arrived in Hawaii 31 October 1883 with passengers from Sao Miguel Island, Azores. There were 1,411 passengers.  Almost 1/3 were children. There were 5 births and 8 deaths."

 

I actually started my career as a resident in General Surgery at the University of Hawaii. Early in my second year as a General Surgery resident, I started to become interested in what was happening on the other side of the drape. Luckily, the chair of General Surgery was supportive of my curiosity, and I soon started mentoring with an anesthesiologist at Queens Medical Center on Oahu. His passion for his profession quickly rubbed off on me, and I "saw the light" and decided to make the switch to Anesthesiology.  

 

I applied to anesthesia residency that year and was accepted at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, IL. Fun fact about my time at Cook County: As a CA-1, my chief resident was Dr. Reza Borna, and as a CA-2, it was Dr. Sumit Singh. I also became chief resident as a CA-3, and one year later, I followed Dr. Singh to UCLA after completing my fellowship in Critical Care at UT Southwestern in Dallas, TX.

Everything. The passion that I developed for Anesthesiology early on has only grown throughout the years, and I am still excited to come to work each day and take care of my patients and teach our residents and fellows. As I always say, it's not work if you love what you are doing!

 

Two things: 1) Being head of a clinical trial here at UCLA on the use of IV angiotensin II in refractory shock, the results of which were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2017. 2) Being chosen as the chief of our Trauma and Adult Multi Specialty Anesthesiology division.

 

The most rewarding aspect I have found is working to improve care for our patients and to make things better and more equitable for everyone in our division. The most challenging thing for me has been handling situations where I am mediating a conflict or seeking resolution in a difficult situation. Although this has been tough, it has helped me grow from a leadership and professional standpoint.

 

Growing up, my favorite movie was Top Gun, and naturally, I wanted to be a fighter pilot in the U.S. Navy for most of my youth. Once the "need for speed" faded, I became interested in medicine in high school after taking a class on athletic training and first aid, which was taught by a teacher who was also a paramedic. I then career shadowed an Emergency Medicine physician and an OB/Gyn, and through my incredible experiences with them, my eyes were set on medicine as my profession.

 

My wife Lauren and I met in 2014 and got married in 2017.  She grew up in Palos Verdes and is a registered nurse. Her family is from Croatia, and we go there regularly to visit her grandmother, aunts, uncles, and cousins. We have two children: Lucia, who is 7, and Luka, who is 5. We also have a golden retriever named Bohdi who is 7 months old and full of puppy energy.  I call him my third kid lol.  

 

Scuba diving and snowboarding are among my hobbies. I also love to work out at the gym and do so 5 days per week, schedule permitting lol. As a lover of music, I am still learning to play the guitar.