Meet a PCORnet Team Member: Tim Carey

What is your name? Where do you live and what is your PCORnet affiliation and role?

Tim Carey. I live in Chapel Hill North Carolina (go heels) and I am a Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I'm co-PI of the Mid-South CDRN and also co-PI of the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program at UNC. Our hub institute is called, the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences (NC TraCS ) Institute. I'm a member of the PCORnet research committee.

What do you appreciate most about being part of PCORnet?

It's a great learning community and wonderful to see different ways of thinking about engaged research come together in a common goal of improving the health of Americans. People share their experiences and we are learning a tremendous amount regarding how care in delivered in this rapidly-changing health care environment. It's been a lot of fun.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Growing up in the late 50's and 60's, the excitement of advancing science was in the air. Astronaut didn't work out, and medicine was a way to combine science interest with a desire to reduce social and health inequities.

What was the first job you ever had?

After some summer jobs washing dishes, I was a lab tech and phlebotomist in a community hospital. That was back in the days when training for such tasks could best be described as minimal!

When you are not at work, what do you like to do most?

I'm an avid reader, usually working on a couple of books at a time.

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received, and who gave it to you?

I went to medical school at the University of Vermont, where Larry Weed was developing the problem-oriented medical record and developing fully electronic medical records in the early '70's. Larry would tell us, frequently and at top volume, that 'a medical system based upon memory is doomed to failure!' He was correct of course and our work in PCORnet is a continuation of that mandate.

Do you have any pets, If so, what are they and what are their names?

Abby is our dog, a 'mature' basset/golden mix. We call her a 'golden bassador'.

What is your favorite sports team?

The Tar Heels of course!

What was your first car?

Saab 95.

What is your most surprising hidden talent?

I know way too many lyrics to old Kinks songs.

If you could eat only one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Risotto.

If you could have dinner with any fictional character from a book or movie, who would it be and why?

Lucky Jim from the Kingsley Amis novel of the same name. Funniest book ever and a wonderful take on universities; not that much has changed since the 50's.

Three words your friends would use to describe you:

Compassionate, funny, talky.

What is your favorite place to visit and why?

Vermont. Family, beauty and peaceful.

What is your favorite quote or slogan?

Health care is a right, not a privilege.

What would you do if you won the lottery?

After a few trips, if it was a large payout I'd expand Medicaid in my state.