Dr. Ankeney uses the first moments of his time with a patient to establish a personal connection, one that will make the patient feel comfortable to share information with him that he needs to make a diagnosis and determine treatment. Those moments can save a life. Like the time a mother sought emergency care for her 5-year-old daughter for a persistent cough she thought might be related to a cold.

“The mom said, ‘When I pick her up from school I have to go in and carry her out because she gets out of breath walking to the car,” Dr. Ankeney recalled. “That was not the description of a cold. We expanded our workup. The girl required a heart transplant."

Being able to help save a life, like that of the 5-year-old girl, is why Dr. Ankeney chose to specialize in emergency medicine.

“I like being there for a patient on their worst day and helping the family through those time periods,” he said.

When not seeing patients in the Emergency Center, this Columbia, MO, native is probably engaged in any of a number of outdoor activities, and introducing his three daughters to the joys of the great outdoors.