Benjamin Hopkins, M.D.
Resident Profile
Chief resident Dr. Benjamin Hopkins has discovered that neurology allows him the opportunity to utilize the thought processes and problem solving skills he learned as an engineer (his career path prior to his decision to pursue medicine), while also offering the rewarding experience of getting to know his patients. Growing up in a small town in Eastern Tennessee has inspired Dr. Hopkins to seek out work in a rural area after he finishes his training. He and his wife, who recently completed her family medicine residency, recently welcomed their first child, and in the meantime are enjoying Nashville’s taco truck scene.
Tell us about your background and how your path led to Vanderbilt.
I grew up in Eastern Tennessee in a town called Greeneville, right along the Tennessee/North Carolina border. Growing up, I did typical small down things–playing sports, hanging out with my friends. Nashville feels like a massive city for me! My dad is an engineer and my mom is in medical coding.
I did my undergrad at University of Tennessee and majored in Chemical Engineering with a bimolecular focus. As a Co-Op, I worked as an engineer for a year down in Mississippi and hated every second of it. I realized I couldn’t keep doing that and questioned what I would do instead. I wanted something technically challenging, but I wanted to talk to people and not just be dealing with numbers all day. So medicine made sense. I completed the prerequisites I needed to apply for medical school, and went on to ETSU Quillen College of Medicine. It was close to home and near my family.
At first I didn’t know what I wanted to do in medicine. Initially I thought maybe cardiology, but I ended up doing an elective in neurology and really liked the thought process involved in making a diagnosis. It was similar to the processes and systems of chemical engineering. I liked the pathology and patient populations we see in neurology. By the end of my third year, I knew this is what I wanted to do. At that point, it was the middle of COVID, and I applied for an away rotation at Vanderbilt. During that rotation I got to know Vanderbilt and the faculty here. When it came time to apply for the match, I was couples matching with my wife, whom I met in medical school. She is originally from the Nashville area, so being closer to home for her was appealing for us as well. We ended up couples matching so she could do her family medicine residency in Murfreesboro while I do neurology here at Vanderbilt.
What are your career plans beyond residency?
The medical school I attended is very big on primary care. The idea of being a sort of “jack of all trades” in a rural population has stuck with me. Neurology is already pretty specialized, so I’ve decided to do a fellowship here at Vanderbilt in neurophysiology. In that way, I can be a generalist but also get to do EEG and EMG. Ideally I would like to live in a more rural area and be a generalist there. My wife has finished her residency and is an attending in Murfreesboro. So we will likely stay around here for a little bit, just probably live further out that way so it’s not so far for her. We also just became parents as our son Sebastian was born at the end of November!
What have been some of the more challenging aspects of residency?
Being a couple both in residency is really tough, especially at the beginning, when you’re both in your intern year. We would have periods where we would go three weeks and we literally didn’t see each other. We would just leave each other notes in the kitchen. I felt bad for my dog! Having someone else who is just as busy as you in your personal life was challenging. We had to be very intentional when we did have time together. It was a help to have her family in town.
As for residency itself, I had a lot of “imposter’s syndrome” the first couple of years.I still deal with that a bit. When I got into Vanderbilt I was honestly a little surprised; I had thought of it as a sort of ivory tower. But one of the pleasant surprises about Vanderbilt was the approachability of the faculty. The best way to describe it is as a “Type A” program with “Type B” personalities. We have lots of volume and complicated cases here, but when you talk to the attendings and faculty, everyone is easygoing. That was a pleasant surprise when I first started.
What have been some of the more rewarding experiences of residency?
It’s interesting work. It happens often in neurology that a patient comes in who has had a weird experience they can’t name. So it is a bit of a puzzle to solve. There is a social aspect where you have to really get to the know the person themselves before you can dig into their issue on an anatomic level. You have to understand their experience. It bridges the gap between being technically difficult while also having a human aspect to it. It’s great to help people, but I also think it’s just cool. It’s never boring.
How has your role as chief resident shaped or changed your experience this year?
It definitely has its challenges. Just like how you have to get to know the patients and understand what makes them tick, you kind of have to do that with your coresidents. You’re in a position where you’ve been coresidents for several years, and now you’re the one creating their work schedule.
This position has also given me a different view and allowed me to take a step back and see how the whole system works together. Instead of just expecting everything to work, I’m getting my hand into how the hospital system works. I’ve enjoyed that aspect of it. I’ve used more of my engineering mind from undergrad. I’ve gotten pretty involved with the quality improvement department with neurology.
What are your interests and hobbies outside of work? What are some of your favorite Nashville hangouts?
Whenever my wife and I do have time together, we always prioritize date nights. We like taking our dog out to the park and on walks. As I've had time, I do enjoy golf. I’ve been able to do that more as the schedule has lightened up. We hang out with family, get drinks with friends. Our favorite date night spots are 5th and Taylor and Taqueria. I could eat Mexican food for every meal for every day for five years and not complain. We live near Nolensville Pike with lots of ethnic food and tons of taco trucks nearby, which we enjoy.
Who have been some important mentors for you along the way?
I have this thermodynamics professor in undergrad who I still keep in touch with. He was very important for me during undergrad. At Vanderbilt, I selected Dr. Poursheyki as my career mentor. Drs. Misuli, Meriweather,Taylor and Mitro have all been very helpful for me as well. You can kind of have a “mentor by committee” here. You can really talk to anybody about your career goals, but also your life goals.
Is there anything else your colleagues should know about you?
A random fun fact is that I was a cheerleader at UT while I was there. I had zero business making that team–I had zero experience. I tried out my freshman year because I had a buddy on the team. They needed ten guys, and I was number ten. They joked with me, saying, “you wouldn’t have made it any other year.” But I grew into it a little bit. I grew up a huge UT fan, so running through “the T” was fun to cross off my bucket list.