Ji Yeon "Jemma" Kang, MD

My inspiration to become a physician and serve the community started when I read a biography of Albert Schweitzer. During medical school, I was drawn to the operating room, and together with aspects of my personality, including attention to detail, I found that pediatric anesthesiology was a perfect fit.

Working with children has always given me joy. My friends and family often noticed that I would come home with a smile on the days when I work with children. Children keep me young.

As a pediatric anesthesiologist, I do my best to treat them as if they are my own. I commit to advocating for each child and do whatever it takes to ensure they receive the best quality of care I can provide, both physically and mentally. This approach continues throughout our entire interaction — from the moment I meet the child, when I put them to sleep, when I bring them to the recovery area and when they finally go home.

My focus is on improving education and processes. One area that I’m involved with is improving the quality of education for medical students, residents and fellows who rotate in our department to learn anesthesiology, and more specifically, airway management. I am investigating and creating methods to improve their experience so that when they go back to their areas of expertise, such as emergency medicine or intensive care, the quality of care they provide is enhanced due to their experience in the Division of Anesthesia.

When I’m not at work, I like to spend time with my family. We are a very musical family — I play the piano, my husband plays the upright bass and my daughter plays the violin. We love classical music and hope to travel to Europe and go on a classical music vacation in places like Berlin, Salzburg, and Vienna.