Hometown: Boone, Iowa
Matched: Pediatrics, University of Iowa Health Care

As a second-year medical student, Spencer Peterson was on his first day of the labor and delivery rotation when his wife, Julia, went into labor.

The University of Iowa Health Care team he would spend weeks learning from would help deliver his son, Wesley.

“The physicians rounding on the unit that day said, ‘You'll learn a lot of things today about labor and delivery,’” Spencer recalls.

Just four months later, Spencer returned to UI Health Care not as a student, but as a father who was relying on another team’s expertise as Wesley faced a life-threatening heart emergency.

Expert cardiology care saves baby Wesley’s life

At 4 months old, Wesley began showing what seemed like symptoms of a routine illness — a rash and irritability. But the situation quickly escalated. While visiting family out of state, Spencer and Julia noticed a more alarming change: The tips of Wesley’s fingers were turning purple.

Physicians soon discovered widespread aneurysms caused by polyarteritis nodosa, a rare autoimmune disease that had begun attacking Wesley’s heart. By the time he arrived at Stead Family Children’s Hospital, he was in severe heart failure.

What followed was a rapid escalation of care. His heart stopped, requiring prolonged resuscitation and the use of life-saving support, including a ventricular assist device to keep blood circulating through his body.

For months, Spencer and his family remained at Wesley’s bedside.

The same kind of teamwork and expertise Spencer had been studying was now in action, as cardiology, critical care, and surgical teams worked in constant coordination.

And after a difficult wait, Wesley received a heart transplant, requiring a complex, hours-long surgery.

Finding a calling in pediatrics

Spencer was born in Iowa City, while his father Eric Peterson (98MD) was completing medical school at the Carver College of Medicine.

Spencer grew up in Boone, Iowa, and watched his father serve their small central Iowa town through his family medicine practice. He was also one of the physicians who managed the local free medical clinic.

“For one Tuesday a month, instead of coming home at the end of the day, my dad would head over to the free clinic. He was making a difference that way,” Spencer says. “As I got older and started thinking about what I wanted to do, I had an easy opportunity to shadow him. I just felt like it was a job that had meaning, with a real opportunity to make a difference.”

"Wesley being in the hospital definitely affirmed my choice of pediatrics. I could relate to patients and families on a level I had not previously been able to.”

— Spencer Peterson

Before medical school, Spencer worked as an emergency medical technician with a local ambulance company, and he would regularly help transport tiny babies and their families to UI Health Care’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Later on in medical school, Spencer particularly enjoyed his experiences working with pediatric care teams — even before his son became sick.

“Wesley being in the hospital definitely affirmed my choice of pediatrics,” Spencer says. “My initial decision was based on good experiences, but everything that happened with him made my decision a lot deeper. I could relate to patients and families on a level I had not previously been able to, seeing chronic conditions and frequent visits and all the challenges that come along with that. It just made my decision a lot more meaningful.”

And as he prepares to graduate from the Carver College of Medicine this month and move forward in his medical career, Spencer carries the experience of witnessing firsthand the impact of coordinated, compassionate care.

In March, he matched in UI Health Care’s residency program in the Stead Family Department of Pediatrics, and he’ll start as a resident physician at Iowa this summer.

Looking forward and giving back

Today, Wesley is a happy and healthy 2-year-old. He regularly sees his Stead Family Children’s Hospital specialty teams for follow-up care and medication management.

“Some of the specialists that my son sees, I had actually worked with as a student,” Spencer says. "I've been able to see how those providers care for their patients — the level of detail they incorporate into talking with patients and coming up with care plans. Now I really understand the level of care they provide and the compassion they have for their patients. That brings me a lot of comfort as a parent, too.”

For Spencer, his training and personal experience reshaped everything he thought he understood about medicine. It has reinforced the impact of teamwork, expertise, and compassion — not just in theory, but in the life of his own family.

And beyond residency training, Spencer sees himself giving back to the state and communities that have given him so much.

“My son has a great medical team here, and I want him to be able to have that continued care for as long as possible,” Spencer says. “But also, being able to give back to the communities that participated in getting me to where I am is also super important.

“There's a huge need for pediatric providers all over the state of Iowa. So, I definitely see myself staying here.”