New Board Member Spotlight
Dr. Caruso checking in participants at OPEN M’s Christmas for the Love of Children Distribution Day.
Dr. Carrie Caruso
“From a childhood of poverty, I am so very grateful for the opportunities I was given to pursue a bachelor’s degree in laboratory medicine. A career of working in the hospital laboratory, while also teaching Microbiology and Chemistry at the college level followed. I first heard of OPEN M while working in the hospital laboratory – a colleague volunteered at OPEN M before coming to work on afternoon shifts. From that time, I knew that I too would help at OPEN M someday. Having always had a dream of returning to school to become a physician, I was blessed with the chance to do so at NEOMED. During both medical school and internal medicine residency at Summa, I had the honor to meet physicians who helped at OPEN M, reaffirming my goal to also help at OPEN M in the future.
As a teaching hospital physician, my mission is to teach residents to care for the ‘whole patient’. I teach them to see each patient as a unique person with a wonderful story to tell. I teach them that each story is beautiful, but that this story can be sad, happy, terrifying, and amazing at the same time. My mission continues as I try to give, and teach residents to give, ‘extra special care’ to those patients whose social problems contributed to, or caused their hospital admission. Too frequently our patients not only have no insurance, but also no home, no food or shelter, and no family support. Our patients are also frequently suffering from substance abuse and psychiatric disorders. I teach residents to address all acute medical and psychiatric health issues in the hospital setting, while also teaching them to provide the safest possible discharge with regard to the social issues that impact our patients’ health.
Although we can refer patients to our residency clinic for follow up, many patients cannot follow up as our clinic is not ‘free’ and does not supply free medication. Too often our patients cannot afford the reduced visit cost, and cannot pay for their medication as many patients do not have health insurance, have not yet received Medicaid insurance, or do not qualify for Medicaid insurance. OPEN M is such a valuable safety net for these patients.
I had to smile the other day when I read comments from my recent evaluations from residents…from disgruntled folks who seem to simply want to pass boards and move on to a specialty fellowship, ‘focuses too much on the social issues’, and from folks who seem to be on the path to becoming compassionate, caring physicians, ‘teaches us to see the whole patient, including all the social issues that have affected patient’s health’. I hope to not only support OPEN M’s mission and vision, but to also teach my residents about OPEN M. Learning about OPEN M, guiding their patients to OPEN M as needed, will be an invaluable experience in their journey to becoming compassionate physicians.”