This summer, Susan Mitchell, MD, is joining forces with Karen Wolowick, DO, to begin a new journey for Wolowick Women’s Health. Although the practice’s name will change, its focus on personalized healthcare for modern women will remain steadfast. Welcome, Dr. Mitchell, to Downers Grove.

Tell us why you started your own practice in partnership with Dr. Wolowick.

After more than 15 years as an OB-GYN, I knew I wanted to provide personal and meaningful care to patients. One of the best things about being a doctor is developing trusting, lasting relationships with patients, which today’s big-medicine environment sometimes hinders.

What is the formula for your success?

You are positioned to provide unparalleled service when you follow your passion and do what you love and are uniquely good at.

How does that translate into patient success?

Patients want to see physicians who care and make an extra effort. When patients don’t feel heard, they don’t get the level of care they need.

In the time you’ve been practicing, how have you seen the field change?

Women are owning their lives and their happiness more than ever. Women want to feel healthy and do what they can to minimize their risk of heart disease and cancer. They are taking control of their fertility and are more educated than ever on their health. Pap tests and mammograms are becoming more personalized to a patient’s history. Women’s health has historically been sidelined in medicine and medical research. Now, women are demanding, getting, and creating better solutions.

What are your other hobbies and interests outside medicine?

I love to travel and am a committed Francophile. I am an avid reader, and I am always curious to see what my patients are reading! One of my favorite things is to get together with close friends and enjoy a long dinner with delicious food, interesting conversation, and fantastic wine.

“If I wasn’t a doctor, I’d be…”

It’s hard for me to imagine life not as a doctor; it’s an integral part of who I am. I would love to write and travel more if I could expand other areas of my life. ■