It’s been said that physicians don’t choose to become pediatricians – rather, pediatrics chooses them. This is entirely true for Dr. Louis Hampers, who fully intended to go into internal medicine like his father before him. But during his third year of medical school, Dr. Louis Hampers began his first rotation in Pediatrics, and immediately fell in love with everything about the specialty. With the perfect combination of empathy, the ability to relate to children, and clinical know-how, Dr. Hampers fit easily into the role of Pediatrician.
But Dr. Lou Hampers still wanted to experience all of medicine before committing to a career path. In order to immerse himself in a way that he couldn’t in the United States, he dedicated one year of his life to a mission hospital in Kenya. As one of only two doctors manning a 400-bed hospital in a third-world country, Dr. Hampers was pushed to new limits. He worked long, harrowing hours performing surgeries for the first time and administering life-saving treatments at all hours of the day and night.
In Kenya, Dr. Lou Louis Hampers treated people of all ages. He delivered babies and gave blood transfusions and performed trauma surgeries. He was often on duty for 48 hours at a time. While overwhelming and humbling, the experience was also life-changing; Dr. Hampers’ confidence in his abilities grew tremendously. He was stretched beyond anything that would ever be requested of him in the United States. He returned as a changed man, assured of his decision to pursue further training in Emergency Pediatrics.
Dr. Louis Hampers had excelled at making quick decisions in the emergency room and knew that he could bring the same intensity to the Pediatric ER, combining his two passions. The next stop on his journey was Chicago, where he completed fellowship training in an academic medical center. It was here that Dr. Hampers was exposed to the process of medical research, and began to conduct his own. His primary research focus was on the effect that a language barrier has on medical decision-making.
Again, it was his experience in Kenya that continued to influence Dr. Louis Hampers’ career; he had often wondered if the care he had given was compromised by the language barrier and his reliance on interpreters. His formal research in Chicago showed that care was deeply affected by a language barrier; doctors consistently ordered more tests, gave more IV fluids, and admitted more patients to the hospital when they were unable to communicate fully. Dr. Hampers’ research has been used by administrators and policymakers throughout the U.S. to encourage the inclusion of medical interpreters whenever deemed beneficial.
Upon leaving Chicago, Dr. Hampers moved on to the University of Colorado School of Medicine, where he eventually became an Associate Professor. Because Dr. Hampers had pursued concurrent MD and MBA degrees at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Wharton School, he was in a unique position to also fill an administrative role. This opportunity was afforded to him in Denver, where he became the Medical Director of several satellite urgent care centers. He was later promoted to Medical Director of the main hospital ER.
At the same time, he served as Section Head of Pediatric Emergency Medicine in the Medical School – and continued to see patients. He worked incredibly long hours, always prioritizing his patients over himself, and earning the respect and admiration of all of his colleagues and students. At times it seemed that the work would never end, as he finished long days at the ER and continued on to the library to prepare to teach classes the next day.
Because of his love for clinical medicine, and his intense desire to help children who are in need, Dr. Louis Hampers inarguably rose to the top of his profession. Due to his comprehensive education and varied experience, he was called on to participate in clinical, research, education, and administrative roles – all of which he excelled at. There is no aspect of medicine that does not interest Dr. Hampers.
Dr. Louis Hampers currently resides in Centennial, CO. He has completed research in the areas of language barriers in medicine, variation in physician practice patterns, urgent care and fast track medicine, febrile seizures, tropical medicine, and substance abuse treatment. During the COVID-19 epidemic, he volunteered his time at a general urgent care clinic, working with families hands-on. He found the work to be overwhelming in a way he hadn’t experienced in years but rewarding to experience their gratitude on a daily basis.
You can learn more about Dr. Hampers by visiting his site, louishampers.com.
