Andrew Thorp, MD

Fun Fact About You:

I was originally a computer science major before becoming interested in medicine. I worked with drones and machine learning in college.

What do you enjoying doing in your free time?

I enjoy science, tech, computers, movies/tv, and cooking. I am also obsessed with my french bulldog and spend most of my time with him.

What was your craziest/best/worst job before residency/fellowship?

My best job was my tech consulting business for new start ups. Planning a new office from top to bottom was a lot of fun. I also worked at Best Buy in college for Geek Squad, which was fun in a way, but also terrible; retail life is definitely an interesting experience.

If I wasn't a doctor I would be...

Biomedical engineering, Chief Technology Officer for a start up, or robotics engineer for NASA / SpaceX

What do you enjoy most about living in Sioux Falls?

Fun walkable down town. Cost of living is incredibly cheap. Falls park is beautiful. Tons of walking / bike trails. It takes less than 20 minutes to get completely across town.

If there was a movie about your life, what genre would it be and who would be casted as you?

Drama / Comedy – starring Matthew Broderick. A coming of age story about a scrappy young man who finds his way in life despite always having bad luck.

Is there anything else you'd like to share about your fellowship experience or about living in Sioux Falls?

Pros: People in Sioux Falls are very nice and approachable, typical mid west mentality; very different from where I come from in the north east. There’s a fair amount of good dining options and craft beer breweries in town.

Cons: for some reason no one knows how to make a right turn here when driving, and people don’t walk to the right in hallways.

Why did you choose this fellowship?

Procedure volume and expertise.

In your opinion, what is the best thing about your fellowship?

The attendings and clinic staff are all very approachable. You get to start in the cath lab in first year and even take STEMI call starting from day one. The fellows are a close knit group and look out for each other and all hang out outside of work. There are plenty of research opportunities as well with the ability to go to conferences your work is accepted to with expenses mostly reimbursed by the program. Your procedure numbers at the end of the first year will be much higher than the average program.

What, if anything, would surprise a new fellow about the CVD program?

Own desk in a dedicated fellows office, extensive research opportunities, large procedure volume, STEMI call from the beginning.

What's the best perk of your program?

Conference expenses are funded by the program.

What is one thing you want a prospective fellow to know about our program?

Your co fellows and attendings want you to learn and succeed. Everyone is supportive and available.