Rhonda Carol Quick passed away suddenly in her sleep on March 17, 2019. A vascular surgeon, she had been a member of the Tucson medical community since 2003. She prioritized family, friendship, lifelong learning, and the relentless pursuit of excellence in service to her beloved patients. Rhonda traveled extensively and never met a stranger. Despite demanding professional obligations, she was a voracious reader. A connoisseur of bourbon, Rhonda liberally shared both her extensive, encyclopedic knowledge and sizeable personal collection of America’s Native Spirit.
Born August 9, 1967 in Cullman, Alabama, Dr. Quick was valedictorian of Cullman High School and a first-generation college student. She was awarded a full ride, four-year scholarship by Auburn University in pre-medicine and earned a B.S. With High Honor in Biology in 1989. Rhonda continued her education at Wake Forest University Bowman Gray School of Medicine, receiving her Doctor of Medicine in 1993. She completed a residency in general surgery at the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center and University Hospital in 1998, serving as Chief Resident during her final year. Rhonda continued her work there in a two-year vascular fellowship. Dr. Quick then remained on faculty at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine in the Department of Surgery as an Assistant Professor of Surgery with a joint appointment at the Lexington VA Medical Center. During her time in Kentucky, she learned to play golf, poker, and the horses - all of which accelerated her continuing education about bourbon. However, an infatuation with Arizona had begun during a three-month research fellowship in vascular and endovascular interventions at the Arizona Heart Institute and Foundation in 1999. When offered a position at Tucson Vascular Surgery, she readily accepted in December 2003 and never again ventured east for more than a brief visit or to chase a rare Kentucky bourbon. Rhonda attended Northminster Presbyterian Church in Tucson.
Dr. Quick was a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the International Society of Endovascular Specialists, the Edward B. Diethrich Vascular Surgical Society, the Vascular Access Society of the Americas, the Western Vascular Society, the International Society for Vascular Surgery, the Southern Association for Vascular Surgery, the Association of Women Surgeons and the Peripheral Vascular Surgery Society. She was Board Certified in both vascular surgery and general surgery.
Rhonda leaves behind a host of loving family members, loyal friends, professional colleagues, and patients who now celebrate her life well-lived while simultaneously mourning the unexpected loss of a brilliant, compassionate surgeon and a kind and gentle soul.
