Focus on Staff With Bonnie Cartaya

Bonnie Cartaya, a program coordinator within the department of internal medicine, is a Louisville, Ky., native. She attended Ursuline Academy in Louisville, which is now closed, took some classes at the University of Kentucky and then completed real estate classes at Hondros College in 1998, after co-owning a hunting and sporting goods store in Campbellsville, Ky., for 18 years with her husband. Cartaya practiced real estate before beginning in her role at UC in August 2008. She has been supporting Gregory Rouan, MD, Eric Warm, MD, and the residents and chiefs within the department since then.

What led you coming to UC?

"I was looking for a job, knowing that I had to get out of real estate because of the condition of the housing market. I went to church with Joan (Strittholt) and was asking her if she knew anyone that needed a good employee; the rest is history.”

What is your favorite part of the job?

"Scheduling the trips for the residents and Dr. Warm. Also, preparing the Medical Grand Rounds speakers and their presentations. I work with Dr. Warm on a lot on the Med-Hub evaluations for the residents—he completely redid the evaluations. It is wonderful! I schedule meetings with the residents. Dr. Warm has to meet with all residents twice a year and go over what is going on with them, and he always wants to know how they are doing. For the residents, I do paperwork and schedule meetings with Dr. Warm and Dr. Rouan. I do the scheduling for all of the hospital rotations; this is a full-time job in itself. I have approximately 109 residents and around 200 rotations—you do the math. I enter in the information, but then, it changes daily.”

You’re also listed as being a "notary public.” How do you use that in your job?

"A notary is a person that is verifying that the person signing the paper is who they say they are. I went to class for that as well. I got my notary when I was in real estate and never used it there, but when I got to this job, I use it all of the time. I notarize many documents for the residents when they apply for fellowships and moving on into a career. Now, it is well known that I am a notary, and I can notarize paperwork for anyone, and I do very often.”

What do you like to do when you aren’t at work?

"I love babysitting my grandchildren and working in my yard.”

Name one interesting fact about yourself that someone might not know.

"I just got my concealed carry license. That was a very interesting and challenging process.”

What made you decide to get a concealed carry license? Do you go to the shooting range?

"I had a gun that I haven’t shot since I moved to Cincinnati. I bought my car from the retired policeman that taught the concealed carry class, so it started by him letting me use the police range shooting my gun. We started talking and one thing led to another. My son and I took the class; it was abbreviated since I knew about guns—I sold them for 18 years—and I knew how to shoot. I love it.”