Richland Hospital has sent us some great guests here this year, and we're pleased to introduce you to Dr. Muhammad who joins us.
Hospitalist from the Richland Hospital here in Richland Center.
Well, good morning, Dr. Muhammad.
Yeah,
good morning.
Yeah, thank you
for having me.
Great to have you in the studio here.
So tell us a little bit about yourself
if you would.
Yeah.
Personal history, interesting.
I grew up in England, Manchester.
I did my medicine there and then I came to Oklahoma City to do my training here.
US does have actually one of the best medical training systems we have.
So a lot of physicians from outside come here to train.
After getting training here, got married, got kids.
and just ended up staying.
And then now I'm part of the original hospital esteem here.
Awesome.
And so what drew you to this type of medicine?
So I like the rural medicine.
I think it has a different feel than the bigger city medicine.
You have more one-to-one with patients.
You are able to form better connections with the community, with the patients.
And working at the smaller hospitals, you feel like you're not part of the big wheel.
You're a cog in the wheel that's just going around.
And I believe working in the smaller hospitals, you're able to make much more difference and definitely more job satisfaction.
I love what I do.
And when you're able to make the extra connection with the patients, they get better.
You get to know the family and what they do.
So it's very satisfying.
That's interesting you say that because I think I want to say patients feel like that too in the smaller hospitals.
They don't feel like there's such a number.
And I'm guessing it's interesting as a physician you feel that way as
well.
Yes.
Yes.
It's the same thing.
And you know, core philosophy of our Richland hospital esteem.
So hospitalists are physicians who take care of the patient that are admitted to the hospital.
And our goal at Richland has been to keep
patients local, meaning if you or your loved ones get sick.
Hey, what can we do to keep you guys here and provide the excellent care?
So hospital has invested a lot into it.
So we have a program called campus program where we have all the access to the specialists.
They're able to see the patient at bedside through the telemedicine program.
We also collaborate with UW ICU team.
So if somebody with serious illness that need more ICU level care, we have ICU, open ICU.
UW intensivists are able to access and help us manage the patient.
And really, the experience with the patient has been, you know, they are thankful.
We are able to provide everything.
They are able to stay local and it's really helpful for the families too for visitors to come and visit.
I think it can be a track to go down to Madison or Gundersen.
It definitely is.
I'm guessing that cuts down on the number of transfers to the other hospitals.
Yes it does and they are grateful too because they're always also full.
And because we're able to keep the local patients local and really provide the care here.
And there's so much more to it.
When a patient is staying local, we know more about them, what their needs are, what their nuances are at home, if they need more help at home or not.
And so really able to provide the holistic care.
Whereas if you're in the bigger hospital, we do transfer patients that need to go.
For example, if you're having a heart attack and you need the cardiac stance, obviously you go.
But sometimes it can be difficult to kind of have the full picture.
So you get treated and then you go out.
Are you planning to live in the area then?
I actually
live in Chicago.
five of us that rotate through.
So we do five to seven, seven days shift.
And our goal is to provide 24 hour uninterrupted care.
So when we are on service, we are on for 24 hours.
We also have a nocturnal nest, meaning that physician that comes on at night, but he's through tally, he comes on at 11 states at seven.
So we rotate through five to seven days, we go home and then come back after a couple of weeks.
And I've been working with Richland, I believe since 2021.
Okay.
So you came through a tough time with COVID.
Oh, yes.
I mean, those are some things, I think we all learned something from that.
Yeah.
And
hopefully we learned some positive things, right?
Positive things.
Yes.
Yes.
Uh, it was a very, you know, strange in the sense that we really never encountered something like that before.
And at Richland, I mean, I remember case after case of just folks really sick.
It was a sad time, very difficult time for everybody, even nursing staff, physicians, hospitals.
I mean, a lot of burnout.
We were always full.
But you know, it really made it more cohesive, more organized.
And I think it has a lot of positive has come out of it.
Yeah, I think we all learned a little bit from it.
And certainly, I think the strings are different, right?
From when they, when it first hit, right?
Yeah, yeah.
And the virus mutates so rapidly.
So, and the more it mutated, it become less and less weird.
So which was a good thing.
But still important too.
Plan ahead and if you prefer, you know, get your shots and everything.
It's that time of year to start encouraging, I guess,
right?
Exactly.
And, you know,
on stuff, you know, prevention is better than part of cure.
So, you know, these vaccinations, especially in our community, we definitely recommend getting all, stay up to date on your vaccinations, especially the pneumonia that influenza season, check your COVID level, COVID status too, and all the vaccinations, especially for us, we get ordered to, there's, there's shingles, there are RSV vaccination to RSV, particularly if you have longer shoes, you have
Because those viruses, me and you, get it.
If somebody's healthy, they just have sniffles for a couple of days and they're fine.
But if somebody already has under lung condition, then they make some really sick and we see them in the hospital.
Then they're tied down for a few days in the hospital and sometimes it can be difficult to turn them around.
And, you know, just getting the shot and preventing that it goes a long way.
What's the most rewarding thing about your job, Dr. Muhammad?
So my most rewarding thing about my job is when I see folks get better.
So that's a unique thing about being a hospitalist is when somebody comes in really sick and then you treat them and then get better and they get to go home and live their life.
And it kind of makes, especially in the sense that you were there to help them.
achieve that.
I think as a human being, I think we are most vulnerable when we are sick.
You know, you and then you're coming to the hospital and it's a big responsibility too.
And then I'm, you know, feel privileged to be in the place where I'm able to make maybe a small difference, reduce somebody's suffering.
They can go and live their life.
I think it's very rewarding.
Is that the reason why you chose this field?
Yes.
It goes back to my younger brother.
He was 16 in England.
He was going to be a cricket, I don't know whether you're familiar, similar to baseball.
He's a cricket player, up and coming.
Everybody was excited.
And then suddenly he starts losing coordination.
We're like, okay, what's going on?
He's like walking.
He's going on a different side.
I was actually training in study to be a pilot.
That's where I was going.
He got sick.
He had brain cancer and we spent time with him in the hospitals.
Unfortunately, he passed away.
And then, you know, just being in the hospital and seeing that it just kind of the switch clicked like, you know, practicing medicine.
I think it's
It's the right call for me, how the physicians there helped my parents go through that and how, you know, my parents looked up to them and having, hey, you know, there's this person that can help us.
And they were there, even though, you know, it was uncurable, but they were there.
And that really pushed me towards medicine and I love what I do.
I'm guessing that you learned a lot from that experience, probably about
bedside manner and things like that and how to treat people.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think sometimes, um, when we get busy, uh, you know, we lose track of,
you
know, sometimes patients become a number.
Uh, and, you know, that's the reason I kind of switched over to the rural hospital was is, Hey, it's not just a number.
You need to be bedside, interact with a patient.
And, you know, there is value to a therapeutic relationship.
between me and the patient.
If the patient trusts me, he feels like, hey, this doctor really cares about me, wants me to get better.
And they are really more likely to take the medication that I tell him, or maybe more likely to listen to your advice.
So I think that is so huge.
But, you know, unfortunately, it's one of the pieces that gets neglected.
In the bigger hospital where I worked, they are just fall, you're just running, you're seeing the most critical patients, making sure they're alive and it can be very rushed.
But that's why I like the slower pace and really develop a relationship and a bond with the patients.
And I think as a patient, if you've got that, that positive attitude you've got, you feel like people are pulling for you.
I mean, that goes a long
ways.
Yeah.
Yeah, it does.
I mean, I think positive attitude is key.
There's been studies that show the folks that are more positive tend to do better.
They're more likely to go home early versus other folks.
And then to cultivate the positive attitude, I think you need the whole staff pulling for you.
We are very blessed at Richland, you know, we had dedicated nursing staff, the case management team, the social work team, physical therapy.
So we kind of get everybody jumps on it and keep the positive attitude and help the patient.
And once they feel like it is a whole team pulling for us, and I think they get invested in it too.
Yeah.
Having been a patient there, I can, uh, you know, and, and the whole nursing staff, I mean, everybody just, it's a, it's a big team.
Isn't
it?
It is, it is.
And, and it does take a lot of work.
And, um, and, uh, I think one of the nursing.
It's amazing what they do.
And then we have the social work team, nursing team, nutritionists, physical therapy, occupational therapy.
So there's so much in the background that goes on just to take care of one patient.
But we are very lucky to have a very dedicated team.
One stop shop though, some ways, you know, lots of things you can do.
And for you, um, I'm guessing you really never get bored because it's always, you're not specializing in one form of medicine.
You see something different every day.
Every day.
Yes.
And I like that intellectually challenge.
You know, it kind of keeps you on your toes.
I have patients with lung problems or kidney problems or stomach problems or brain stroke.
So you get to see a whole variety of stuff.
And
I enjoy, definitely enjoy that aspect.
There's never a boring day.
The future of medicine, you know, what excites you down the road and the possibilities and things like that?
I
think AI is very exciting.
And the new research, they are happening and how it's aiding the new developments.
That's very exciting.
Also, you know, as a physician, AI already is starting to help us, like, you know, less time.
in front of the computer more time with the patient.
So it's been really helpful.
That's been the biggest excitement for me is sometimes, you know, when you see the patients, you need to finish the notes.
And then it's always in the back of your head, I got 10 notes to finish today.
It's a long time, but this AI makes it easier, takes the burden off.
And then you can just pull up a chair and sit next to the patient and talk about other things.
So.
I'm very excited about that.
Yeah.
I'm curious how AI does assist you because, you know, there are some, I'm guessing with notes, it condenses things, you know, write me a note, you know, you can get your job done faster than
faster.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's, uh, it's amazing technology.
Like, um, so it just listens when you talk into the page and you got their permission.
Hey, there's going to be a listening and they're all HIPAA validated.
So.
They're skewer and it listens when I talk to you, regular conversation, it recognizes my voice, it's normal, I'm talking and when you talk and then is able to synthesize the whole thing and it's getting more accurate every day and when you pull up the note, it's already there.
You just go through
it.
What
about diagnosis though?
Diagnosis, I think it's a hit and miss on AI still.
So I think the clinical experience, I don't think you'll be able to replace that.
but really helps us.
So I can kind of talk to it.
Hey, this is what I'm thinking diagnosis is that my treatment plan and it's able to kind of incorporate that.
So
because we always tell people to stay off the internet because you can scare yourself if you're having these symptoms.
You might think you're on your death bed after a little bit.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You know, like sometimes, uh, yeah, my, my dad has standards and to do that.
And
And he's like, you know, I'm surprised I'm still alive with all this that's going on with me.
I think it's definitely with caution.
Always seek medical advice if you have a concern because it's a whole picture, right?
Right.
And it will always tell you the most severe part.
And then as a clinician, you're able to listen and kind of narrow down.
Hey, this is what might be going on.
Sure.
Manchester, England.
And what kind of music did you grow up listening to?
Music.
I was mainly rock person, but mainly in Manchester is soccer.
So football is in blood.
So my most weekends were spent at the Manchester City Stadium.
There you go.
Yeah, just watching them play.
Did you watch the World Cup this year?
Yes, yes.
I watched the World Cup.
I was very excited.
I think it was a really good World Cup.
I was actually in Spain when Spain won the World Cup.
Were you
really?
Oh,
awesome.
It was a very, very neat experience.
But that was a big party.
It
was, it was, yeah.
I think they live on that.
That's their only thing, football and soccer.
And it was just like, yeah, it was crazy experience.
Well, it's really good to have you in the studio, Dr. Muhammad, because, you know, you've been here a long time.
People have probably seen you maybe passed in the hall or maybe, maybe you've treated them, but it's nice to kind of hear from you and anything else you want to add today.
No, thank you so much for having me and we are always available at the hospital.
So please, if something is going on, something is bothering you.
And one thing that we noticed, especially for our male colleagues, I want to pass on that we are a little bit slower to seek medical attention compared to our female counterparts.
So always please, if something is bothering you, something does not feel right or something doesn't quite sit well.
Please come in and see your doctor.
That's a good point.
Yeah, I think us we as males we get a little stubborn sometimes.
Yeah,
we got this
Well nice to meet you in person.
Thank you.
Yeah, you bet.
Dr. Muhammad joining us here representing the Richland Hospital on this report for the morning show