Name: Dr. Misha Martinez

Job: Pediatrician at Ahmad and Rana Pediatrics Ltd. in Maryville (288-8800) and Granite City (876-7500)

Outlook: "It's a lot of hard work, but it's very fulfilling."

When a metro-east pediatrics practice came calling, Dr. Misha Martinez answered. The Southern Indiana native recently has settled in Collinsville after arriving at Ahmad and Rana Pediatrics Ltd. in Maryville and Granite City this summer. She said helping children is her passion. She told business writer Will Buss about it:

What brought you to the metro-east?

"I actually went and did a residency in pediatrics at Cardinal Glennon. I moved here in 2008 for that. I also tell people that I interviewed in St. Louis, at first, a little bit out of obligation because I have two step sons from the area. I wanted to look for a way to be close to them. I interviewed here and absolutely fell in love with the area and Cardinal Glennon. It worked out for all of us."

Where are you from?

"I'm from Southern Indiana, and that's where I got my education. I moved here and I basically enjoy the entire area. I had a wonderful experience at Cardinal Glennon and got to be close to the boys. It's been great."

What did you do prior to your arrival here?

"I'm originally from Bedford, Ind., about 20 miles south of Bloomington, which is where the main Indiana University campus is. I did my undergraduate work at the Bloomington campus and I went to medical school at IU's School of Medicine. They have a satellite campus for first-year students. I was on the Evansville campus for my first two years and for the last two years on the Indianapolis campus."

What did you do at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital?

"I do residency at Cardinal Glennon in pediatrics. In my last year in my residency, they asked me to stay on for an extra year to be one of the chief residents, one of two chief residents, to kind of help be a liaison to see residents were attended to and to schedule and help manage residents per se, and then I started here this year."

Why did you become a pediatrician?

"I always knew that I wanted to work with kids. Anytime I've done with children, when I wake up in the morning, it makes me smile when I was going to work in pediatrics because I knew I like to be around kids. I love little kids. They have a sense of humor and resiliency. I taught gymnastics to 2- to 12 year-olds. I've always worked with kids in some sense. In college, I went on medical mission trips to third-world countries. l I always enjoyed working with children. I originally thought that I would do into physical therapy because when I was in high school, I had multiple knee injuries and consequently multiple knee surgeries. In college, I worked for an orthopedic knee surgeon, which was an awesome job. So I thought that I would go the physical therapy route, but I liked the physician side of things and with my experience, I made the decision to go into medicine."

How long have you been working in the metro-east?

"I just started on July 16. It's been just over two months."

What do you love most about your new job?

"I think it's wonderful. I think we have such great communities around here, so many of them, so may festivals and community events going on. I love to see cons that draw communities together to support everyone around here. I think it's been great and I have phenomenal co-workers. I really enjoy it. It's a lot of hard work, but it's very fulfilling."

Contact reporter Will Buss at wbuss@bnd.com or 239-2526.