Most of our students sit in that classroom because they're starting out. Dr. Joe Kent sat in it while already forty-plus years into practicing medicine — as an infectious disease physician who spent the pandemic on the other side of the numbers everyone else was just reading in the news.

He took our EMT course in the summer of 2026 as a way to gain some practical skills and spend some time with his daughter Katie.

Today we're talking about what it's like to go back to the beginning on purpose — what COVID actually looked like from inside it, what he saw sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with the next generation of providers, and what he wants that generation to carry with them that his own didn't always have.

This is Dr. Joe Kent.

Connect with Dr. Joe: herbkent@comcast.net

Tori M has been with CET for almost three years! Originally from California, she moved here for medical school at UIC College of Medicine. Her love of emergency medicine and longing to reconnect with the work after moving led her to find us through some mutual friends and we're grateful for the time she shares with us.

Connect with Tori: vmoll1@uic.edu

Terrence absolutely crushed the class and was a pleasure to work with throughout the entire summer. As we wrapped the summer class, I thought it would be great to record a final boss with him as well as learn more about his background and where his future lies. Please enjoy my conversation with Terrence Carey.