Dr. Andra Blomkalns, the first chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Stanford University and a professor of Emergency Medicine, is no stranger to being “the first.” In addition to becoming the first chair of her department at Stanford, Dr. Blomkalns graduated first in her class from medical school and became the first female residency program director at the University of Cincinnati. She has always pursued new opportunities with the goal of “making things better, creating things differently, and not necessarily going along with the status quo.” With over two decades of leadership experience in the medical field, Dr. Blomkalns gets candid not only about her experience working in emergency medicine prior to and during COVID-19, but also how the pandemic brought out the best in her team. More in this episode includes advice for medical school applicants, the importance of practicing failure, and thoughts on gender bias in the field of medicine.