Andrew Kitterman, Age 30
Interventional Pain Management Physician Assistant, Prairie Spine and Pain Institute
“Andrew is one of the most sincere and caring individuals that I have met in Peoria,” said his nominator. “Since I’ve known him, he has donated his bone marrow to an anonymous cancer patient through ‘Be the Match,’ volunteered for the Best Buddy program … for CASA, and for the Peoria Symphony Orchestra. Andrew makes Peoria a better place to live.”
In his job, Kitterman is a department head, managing nurses and medical assistants. Earlier this year, he was selected to present at the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgury’s annual meeting, and he shared a cover with Dr. Kube in Healthy Cells magazine.
He also is involved with St. Jude and the Peoria Historical Society. This year, he is chairing the Peoria Symphony Orchestra’s Whiskey at the Warehouse event.
Childhood ambition: “I always wanted to be a middle school science teacher. I love … biology, chemistry and anatomy and I have always enjoyed teaching others. As a physician assistant, I can teach patients on a daily basis and utilize my anatomical knowledge to help people in pain.”
Advice to 20-year-old self: “Buy a Michael Jordan rookie card. Just kidding … I would tell myself to be authentic … Stop trying to be something that you aren’t to impress others. Just be honest and do what you feel is right, and success will follow.”
Unknown to colleagues: “No one in my office knows that I can solve a Rubik’s cube and that I won a school spelling bee in 6th grade.”
Bucket list priority: “To catch a homerun ball at a major league baseball game.”
Best advice ever: “Steve Jobs once said, ‘Stay hungry, stay foolish’ and ‘The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.’”
Biggest challenge: “In the first 25 years of my life, I lived in Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana, Florida, Germany, Massachusetts, Georgia and Illinois. Being a part of a military family, I was subjected to constant school changes, moves, new friends. … It has taught me resiliency and adaptability that allow me to flourish now.”
Book recommendation: “David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell.”
Local inspiration: “Travis Platt,” who has “battled muscular dystrophy his entire life and has been in a wheelchair since the first grade … You will not find a person with a better attitude.”
