Berlin, VT - Hannah Swayze-Quinn, MD, a native of Tunbridge, Vermont, is joining the Central Vermont Medical Center hospitalist team after recently completing her residency in Internal Medicine at Baystate Medical Center/Tufts University of Medicine in Springfield, MA.
Dr. Quinn received her undergraduate degree, a B.A. in Molecular and Microbiology, at Hampshire College, Amherst, MA, and received a Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Medical degree at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC.
While at Hampshire College, Dr. Swayze-Quinn was introduced to the sport of kayaking, which quickly became a passion and eventually led her to North Carolina, the main training grounds for Olympic kayakers. She was a member of the U.S. National Slalom Kayaking Team from 1993 to 1997, and a member of the World Championship Kayaking Team in 1993.
It was her experiences kayaking in Ecuador that influenced Dr. Swayze-Quinn to return her focus to a career in medicine. “White water had taken over my life,” said Dr. Swayze-Quinn, “but in Ecuador, where I watched kids begging on the streets, I decided there was more to life than shaving a few seconds off of my time.”
Dr. Swayze-Quinn enrolled as a Surgery major at the University of Vermont College of Medicine and received high honors in Surgical Intensive Care, Cancer Research, Neurosurgery Research and Neuro Radiology. She began her residency at Baystate in Surgical Oncology before deciding that Internal Medicine would allow her to have a better balance with family life.
Joining CVMC as a hospitalist felt like a good fit for Dr. Swayze-Quinn after spending a significant portion of her residency in a hospital intensive care setting. “While I feel very comfortable working with patients in this familiar environment,” said Dr. Swayze-Quinn, “the ability to help patients, regardless of the setting, is the biggest gift I get from practicing medicine.”
Dr. Quinn now lives in Stowe, Vermont, where her husband, Dr. Robert Quinn, is a primary care physician at Stowe Family Practice. They have two children, Katie, age 4, and Trevor, age 5, and live on a small farm with a brook, one horse (Sugar), a dog (Tess) and a cat named Scratch. While the brook is not big enough for kayaking, Dr. Swayze-Quinn has her eye on a gentle stretch of river about a half mile from her home as training grounds for Katie and Trevor. Dr. Swayze-Quinn and her family also enjoy skiing, hiking, biking and traveling.
I am very happy to be back to my home state, in this beautiful outdoor world,” said Dr. Swayze-Quinn, “and I am very committed to caring for the people of central Vermont.”