[Dr. William Brady speaking]

Emergency medicine is an amazing specialty. You can go from zero to 60 quite literally in the space of a second when a door slams open and they say, “We need a doctor in here.” You have to make decisions within one or two seconds, sometimes based on little to no knowledge of any sort about the patient. I like being able to manage what comes in the door.

I care for patients directly. I also have been a faculty member for 31 years.

Patient care is the most important of our duties, but teaching people how to deliver emergency care is very important, because we need the next generation to take care of us. You know, this is not a doctor's office where people have appointments. Instead of dealing with a defined group of illnesses, we're dealing with anything that can happen in medicine.

I work as a medical director of Albemarle County Fire Rescue, where my son is a firefighter and EMT. My wife is a nurse. All four of my children are involved in health care.

The best part about this job is all of it. I get to help people. I get to teach. It can be in the hospital. It can be in the community with the fire department.

There are so many different, fun things to do that are part of my job. You have to really embrace the uncertainty, and you realize that chaos is the norm and you can't control everything.