Max Rich

About Max Rich

My desire is to become a compassionate primary care doctor while researching ways to improve the care of the sick. I grew up with two academic parents, who instilled in me the values of hard work, critical thinking, and a thirst for knowledge. As a child, I tested my parents by disassembling pens to see how they worked and figuring out where matchbox cars would fit, sometimes making their way into the kitchen drain. This fascination with the mysteries of the biological and mechanical world led me to pursue biomedical and chemical engineering where I learned how to extend my knowledge for solving new and more complex problems, ones involving the inner workings of life itself. My research culminated in my final PhD research project which involved transforming individual myocytes and stem cells into a beautiful co-culture of muscle fibers and embryoid bodies that contract in response to glutaminergic stimulation. In medical school I was able to start integrating this problem-solving approach while working with my patients, matching large amounts of information with unique patterns in their function and behavior.

Experience

1. Internal Medicine Physician

   SSM Health

   Jul 2023 — Present · St. Louis City County, MO, US

Education

• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Chemical Engineering

  2010 — 2015

• University of Illinois College of Medicine at Urbana-Champaign

  Doctor of Medicine - MD

  2012 — 2020

• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Laboratory High School

  High School

  2001 — 2006

• The Johns Hopkins University

  Bachelor of Science (BS), Biomedical Engineering and Math

  2006 — 2010

• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  Master of Science (MS), Chemical Engineering

  2010 — 2013