WHEN KELLY TIERNEY moved to Dallas from Philadelphia a year ago, her friends couldn’t believe it – particularly since she’d lived in the area all her life and didn’t know a soul in Texas.

But the move proved to be more than just a change of scenery, Ms. Tierney said. It also changed her life, opening up new career opportunities and exposing her to a does of good old-fashioned Southern hospitality.

As one of the 10 Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellows at UT Southwestern, Ms. Tierney spent the past year- sandwiched between her third and fourth years of medical school at Philadelphia’s Drexel University College of Medicine – working in UT Southwestern’s Center for Human Nutrition.

She also made new friends, played in a volleyball league, ran several 5 – kilometer races and enjoyed the “wide-open spaces and lack of snow” that Texas offers.

“I became really close to many of the people I worked with,” Ms.  Tierney said. “Everyone is so warm and friendly, and people in general seem much more open in Texas. They made me feel like I was part of their family”

Her work at UT southwestern also helped her decide what area of medicine in which to specialize.

“I knew I wanted to be a doctor when I was very young,” Ms. Tierney said. “Yet, when I finished three years of medical school, I really didn’t know what field I wanted to into. I had always thought maybe family practice.

“I realize now that’s not what I want to do,” she said. “Being a part of the Doris Duke program helped me figure it out. I definitely want to go into academics and teaching, and I’m also thinking very strongly about combining dermatology and internal medicine together into a career specialty.”

The Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, awarded to Ms. Tierney in summer 2003, is a one-year program that identifies and develops promising student researchers who intended to pursue careers in patient-oriented research, but may opt not to obtain a Ph.D. It matches students with senior mentors and allows them to be directly involved in specific patient-oriented research projects.

“There’s a lack of M.D.s getting into research,” she said. “The goal of this program of this program is to get more physician scientists.”

Ms. Tierney worked with Dr. Abhimanyu Garg, chief of nutrition and metabolic disease and professor internal medicine, on several studies involving patients with lipodystrophies – rare body-fat disorders associated with an increased prevalence of insulin resistance, diabetes, fatty liver and high triglycerides levels.

“Kelly ahs been instrumental in spearheading recruitment and evaluation of HIV-infected patients for studies aimed to determine why they develop lipodystrophy related to antiviral medications. She also investigated novel treatment approaches for HIV-infected patient with lipodystrophy,” Dr. Garg said. “She has a charming personality and develops a quick rapport with patients. Every member of our team enjoyed working with her.”

Ms. Tierney’s decision to pursue dermatology is a direct result of her past year’s research.

“I saw a lot of patients who were complaining of dermatology problems – such as rashes, hair loss, reactions to medications and fungal infections – on top tof their other symptoms,” she said. I got very interested in those.

“Yet I also love internal medicine. So I think I’m going to go for a combination of the two. And some where later down the line, I definitely want to get into academics too.”

Ms. Tierney grew up in the small township of North Wales outside Philadelphia, while neither of her parents was involved in medicine, she instinctively knew it was the right choice for her.

“I love medicine,” she said. “To be a physician, you have to constantly be learning. And through this learning process, you’re also able to help people and improve their lives. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do.”

Ms. Tierney started fourth year of medical school at Drexel in July, but decided to stay at UT Southwestern for her “away” rotation, a series of short studies in various medical specialty areas. She will be in Dallas doing a dermatology rotation through the summer.

“There are so many things I waned to follow up on, including my studies on lipodystrophy. My time at UT southwestern has been wonderful, and I’ve learned so much,” she said. “It was also a learning experience another way, too – to be away from home. I’m not quite sure what I expected about Texas, but Dallas in very cosmopolitan and not what I imagined at all.”