Dr Mullowney grew up in Peoria, Illinois. He knew at an early age he wanted to be a physician. In fact, his earliest "hospital job" was delivering newspapers at St Francis Hospital before school. Even at a young age, the hospital environment was exciting and intriguing. After graduating from Peoria High School, he volunteered at medical clinics in Haiti before starting university. He worked with Missionaries of Charity at a wound clinic and tuberculosis clinic in downtown Port au Prince. He also made daily rounds with a social worker in City de Solei who was promoting solar powered cook stoves in place of charcoal stoves. It was a great opportunity to witness some of the most extreme poverty and desperate living conditions in the Western Hemisphere. While in Haiti, Dr Mullowney traveled to the famous annual voodoo ceremony in Saut d'Eau as featured in Serpent and the Rainbow. After immersing himself in medical care for a month, he was hooked and knew he chose the right profession. The local physician knew as much as she lent him large medical textbooks to take back home nightly to the orphanage where he was staying.
Dr Mullowney attended Loyola University Chicago and originally designated a Spanish major. However, he was dissatisfied studying 19th century Spanish literature as his goal was to become fluent in Spanish and so took a semester off and volunteered in Bolivia. There, he worked alongside USAID projects and facilitated small industries development in the jungle (3 hours outside of Santa Cruz). His goal of becoming fluent in Spanish was quickly realized and he had an amazing time working with the campesinos in a very rural setting constructing buildings for rice peelers provided by USAID grants.
On returning to Loyola, Dr Mullowney changed his major to History and applied himself to getting accepted to medical school. Meanwhile, he put his Spanish fluency to work by volunteering at Cook County Hospital in downtown Chicago. There, the inspiration to be a physician grew ever stronger after interacting with resident and attending physicians in the ER and hospital wards. Dr Mullowney also worked at St Joseph Hospital in Chicago and St Francis Hospital in Evanston as a unit clerk in the critical care unit. It was a great opportunity to learn more about hospital patients; hospital structure; and overall workflow of busy city hospitals.
Dr Mullowney attended Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington DC. He always said that his training at Georgetown was rivaled by his informal education at various local Smithsonian museums. While at Georgetown, he volunteered his Spanish speaking skills as an interpreter at La Clinica del Pueblo in Adams Morgan. This was a great opportunity to learn more about community based health care clinics in a city setting. This was also further validation that he made the right choice in choosing medical care as a profession as the work there was so meaningful and gratifying. Dr Mullowney returned to Bolivia during a fourth year elective and worked at a small rural hospital high up in the Andes around 3 hours outside of Cochabamba. In addition to working with attending physicians at the hospital, he participated in immunization drives and nutrition and maternal education in outlying villages. Dr Mullowney felt most inspired by his pediatric and internal medicine rotations in medical school and chose to train in both after graduation.
Dr Mullowney trained at Duke University Medical Center and graduated from the internal medicine and pediatric residency program. He tailored his residency program to inpatient based rotations and spent as much time as possible in the various intensive care units: MICU; CCU; PICU and NICU. He also moonlighted in the adult as well as pediatric bone marrow transplant units. He was able to train overseas during fourth year elective at Beijing University Hospital where he concentrated on hematology and nephrology. China was on cusp of modernization at the time so it was an amazing opportunity to witness old world China with Hutong life and daily commuting by bicycle before that was soon supplanted by high rise living and automobiles. While in China, he explored many parts of the country including Xian, Chengdu and Tibet. The latter was especially meaningful as his association with the government hospital in Beijing afforded him official passes to visit restricted areas deep in Tibet.
After graduation, Dr Mullowney traveled throughout SE Asia visiting Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar. The touring was life changing and inspired a life long interest in Asian culture. Fortuitously, he spent a lot of time in Siem Reap where he toured various hospitals and developed a strong resolve to return as a physician.
Dr Mullowney's first job after residency was in Vermont. There he co managed an internal medicine and pediatric hospital program at Rutland Regional Medical center. He also volunteered at Angkor Hospital for Children in Siem Reap. This particular stint was during rainy season and the daily commute consisted of riding a bike in the monsoon weather wearing a bathing suit and changing at the hospital into regular work clothes. The experience was amazing and consuming. He spent 16 -18 h a day in hospital making rounds; assisting with critical care management; staffing the clinic; and lecturing local physicians. Nights were spent riding a bike around Angkor Wat ruins and appreciating the chants of the monks living in various scattered temples. It was a transporting experience.
Dr Mullowney relocated to Alaska and ended up working there for the past 20 years as a hospitalist first in Anchorage and then Soldotna. He was involved in many leadership positions throughout his time there: hospitalist administration and leadership; running various rehab units and nursing homes. He also lectured frequently throughout his time there both to public and hospital audiences.
He and his family relocated to Hawaii in 2020. He commuted between home in Hawaii and work in Alaska for the following five years. He will begin working full time in Hawaii beginning 2026.