Lagatta, now 28, is at the University of Chicago where she finished her three-year residency May 29. She graduated from UW-Madison's medical school in 2003.

Fifteen years ago in the nation's capital, she beat out a field of 227 competitors by correctly spelling words such as ophiomorphic, soligenous, petrophilous, anxiolytic, inappetence and ultimately, antipyretic, which Webster's defines as "anything that reduces fever." She was the last Wisconsin contestant to win the national title.

The experience was helpful chiefly in teaching her to concentrate and how to speak in front of large groups, Lagatta said.

Now, Lagatta has a few weeks off before starting a three-year fellowship in neonatology, a subspecialty in premature infants. "I found I liked the intensive care that has to be given such infants, so I'll be staying at the same institution I've been at for three years," she said. "The ICU is unique in there's lots of new technology available."

After the fellowship, "At some point I'll have to stop training and get a job," Lagatta said, adding that she hopes to stay in the Midwest.

"I'm open to where life takes me," she said. "I like Chicago. They give us time for hobbies - I like to run and have run marathons in Madison, San Diego and Duluth, and I've tried a few small triathlons."

- Brenda Ingersoll

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