Dr. Kiran Koduri knows firsthand what it's like to be a child in the hospital. CCMH's newest
hospitalist spent three months in the hospital as a child, being treated for rheumatic fever.
"That's when I first decided that I wanted to be a doctor," said Dr. Koduri. "Helping the future generation express their full potential with the right care and support to become happier and healthier."
Dr. Koduri attended medical school in his home country of India and completed an internship and residency in Pediatrics at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Camden, NJ. He recently completed a Fellowship in Pediatric Critical Care at the State University of New York, Women and Children's Hospital of Buffalo.
Prior to coming to Gillette, Dr. Koduri worked as an ED physician and pediatric intensivist in the Caribbean, on the islands of Trinidad and Tobago.
He was looking for a practice location in a medically underserved area of the U.S. to meet the requirements of his visa, and Gillette met that criteria. Family was an important part of the decision too, as Dr. Koduri's brother lives relatively close by in Cheyenne.
"We can visit my brother every other weekend," said Dr. Koduri. "But more than that, there are lots of future opportunities here."
Dr. Koduri has been impressed with both the hospital and the people he has met.
"There is better equipment and more resources than hospitals in larger cities," he said. "You don't feel like a stranger. People take the time to talk to you."
He believes in empowering parents through education with the benefit of his medical experience.
"You partner with the parents to help the child," Said Dr. Koduri. "No matter what the doctor does, the family is the primary resource. Mom can always tell you more about the child. As a physician you can counsel them on what to watch for and expect, keeping them posted, sometimes on an hourly basis."
Dr. Koduri's wife Vijaya is a pediatrician, but issues with her visa prevented her from beginning a full-time practice at Big Horn Pediatrics. She is going to become a faculty member at
Gillette College and practice part-time for about a year.
"The college President intervened to make this happen," said Dr. Koduri. "This would have been impossible somewhere else."
The Koduri's have three children, ages 5, 3 and 7 months. He describes it as "…having a little hospital at home." Their son is excited to attend Buffalo Ridge elementary school this fall.
"We feel very blessed to be here."