Gina Schnathorst (Host): Welcome to the Iowa Specialty Hospitals and Clinics ISH Dish podcast, practical health advice from Iowa Specialty Hospital experts. We want to connect the members of our communities with the latest healthcare information that's understandable, relatable, and useful to your daily life.

With us in the studio today, fresh off of a holiday, is Matt Danilson. And Matt is the newest physician's assistant at our Orthopedic Specialist Clinic in Fort Dodge. How are you?

Matt Danilson: I'm good. How about yourself?

Host: Perfect. Thank you. How was your holidays?

Matt Danilson: It was good. I got notified by my kids it was the best Christmas ever, so, I'm going with that.

Host: Why? Did they get something that they really wanted from Santa?

Matt Danilson: From both Santa and from myself, so it was good.

Host: Good! Is this like a big wishlist item?

Matt Danilson: No. Apparently, I hit it just right.

Host: You hit it right. Score one for dad.

Matt Danilson: Yeah, I did. That's right.

Host: Well, we're super happy to have you aboard. And I felt very fortunate to be able to get you in right away, because you're going to start seeing patients effective Monday the 8th of January.

Matt Danilson: Yup, Monday afternoon.

Host: Monday afternoon, okay. And where are you coming from?

Matt Danilson: The Des Moines area.

Host: Perfect. Well, welcome to Clarion in Fort Dodge and North Central Iowa. Have you been up here before?

Matt Danilson: So, I grew up in a small town in Woodward, Iowa. And so, knowing that, my sister played softball, so we'd come up to Fort Dodge quite a bit. And you just know the surrounding areas.

Host: So, have you ever experienced a North Central Iowa blizzard?

Matt Danilson: I have. Several times, unfortunately.

Host: They can be big.

Matt Danilson: They can be big, all right.

Host: So, I used to work for somebody in Des Moines, and I drove to Ankeny every day from up here. And I told them, you have no idea. It's a different world north of Highway 30.

Matt Danilson: It truly is. It's a different atmosphere altogether.

Host: Okay. Well, we just want to visit for a little bit and just talk about what you do, who you are, and why people should hurry up and make an appointment and get in to see you, because I know that there are probably a plethora of Individuals out there having issues. And they just are not sure where to turn or what to do. So, give our listeners a little rundown of who you are as a person, Matt. You know, your family, your schooling, maybe some previous experience.

Matt Danilson: Yeah, I graduated from Iowa State. And then, I went into Des Moines University for my PA school. Graduated in 2007. I came out with more of a neurosurgery background.

Host: Oh, nice

Matt Danilson: I did a lot of complex spine. And then from that, just for a better lifestyle, I went into orthopedics and been doing that ever since 2010. I have two little girls that are 10 and 8, Danny and Finley. So, we're pretty busy with activities as well for a family.

Host: Yeah, that's a great age.

Matt Danilson: I like them better at this age than I do as babies. Everybody loves them when they're small, but I prefer them more when they have personalities, you can have conversations with them.

Host: That's so funny you say that because my mom used to tell me that all the time. She would say, "Every time you had a birthday, I would say, 'This is the perfect age."" And then even now, as old as I am, she's like, "Nope, I really like you now."

Matt Danilson: I agree, 100%. It's so much better to be able to have a conversation with them, everything, yeah.

Host: Yeah, that's cool. So, let's talk about Matt Danilson, the physician's assistant. I am curious and I'm sure our listeners are as well, you know, you get up in the morning just like everybody else. You have breakfast, you get dressed, you go to the clinic. What is your typical day look like?

Matt Danilson: Typically in a normal clinic day, I'd be seeing patients from about 8:00 to 3:30, just every day coming in with any other orthopedic issues of shoulders, hips, knees, some elbow and spine work for sure. But seeing everybody face to face, having a conversation about what their issues are and hopefully get them on the right course to getting better.

Host: Okay, good. So, what brought you up here?

Matt Danilson: I had a long career in Des Moines and I just felt like this would be a good change. there's a lot of autonomy here in Clarion, which I really enjoy. But yet, I still have a great communication with the surgeons here and I feel like it's a good fit for me.

Host: Speaking of the other surgeons, you are going to be actually assisting Drs. Li, Palit, Kakade, and Odland in surgery, correct? So, you will have some OR time and then you'll also be seeing patients in the clinic.

Matt Danilson: Correct.

Host: I also have here, I did a radio ad for you and that will be playing during the month of January, and it says here you enjoy fishing, working out, and playing with your girls.

Matt Danilson: I have a routine of every morning I get up early and do a little workout just to get the heart going. And then, when I'm away from work, I find my time to enjoy it, either playing with the kids or I go up to Canada to fish every year. So, I got some close college buddies that we're still hanging out quite a bit.

Host: Nice. Well, one of the questions I was going to ask you, and we'll just jump over to that, is just for fun, what's the coolest place you've ever traveled?

Matt Danilson: Oh, that's a tough one. I would say, you know, you probably talk to a lot of people. They have this long, extensive history of going outside the United States and seeing all these places. Unfortunately, I haven't got that extensive history yet, but I really enjoy going up to Canada. It's very serene, very quiet. You know, you tell everybody your cell phone doesn't work, but it does, just to keep away from everybody. But just going up there with some college buddies, it's just our time to kind of decompress and just enjoy just going out there fishing. So as of right now, I'll use that. That'll probably change next year or the year after that. But for right now, I'm going to say Canada.

Host: So, where in Canada do you go?

Matt Danilson: Just north of Vermilion Bay, so from Clarion, it'll be probably about 10 hours to get up there to the border, I should say, and then maybe another two hours north of that. So, it's a long haul, but we make stops along the way. We make it fun.

Host: Sounds Sounds like a .

Matt Danilson: It is. Just a bunch of college guys in a small little cabin.

Host: No wonder your cell phone doesn't work.

Matt Danilson: Yeah, exactly right. No photography, anything.

Host: What happens in Canada stays in Canada.

Matt Danilson: That's right. Yep.

Host: Well, that's awesome. I'm curious too, do you have any advice as an orthopedic PA on how to treat your self. You know, we're coming into a new year and everybody's going to have all of these resolutions. And, as a former gym rat myself, I used to get so annoyed at the first part of the year, because all these people would come and inundate the gym and take up all the equipment and then slowly they would burn out and leave. But injuries, especially in January, I think they're just going to happen. So, what advice would you give to people to maybe avoid that?

Matt Danilson: Well, I mean, I think the easiest thing is just ask. Ask for some help. Get some pointers. Don't go in there with just a mindset that it's going to be easy, it's going to be an easy transition, and you're not going to go through some highs and definitely some lows. So, for anybody who's wanting to start off on a new career path of working out and going down that, just ask for help. I mean, you may start off with getting a couple sessions here and there, but injuries do occur. So, that's why I'm open to have you guys come in and we can discuss about some resolutions for those issues. Look, I'm human. I have injuries as well. I ask for advice. So, I think everybody just needs to start light and kind of work from there.

Host: I know, and it's so hard to do that.

Matt Danilson: It is.

Host: Steve, our CEO, teases me all the time because I jump right in and do things and then I always get injured. And like, "I knew that was going to happen."

Matt Danilson: Yeah. And trust me, it can be intimidating going into a gym or even to a doctor's office for that matter. But I mean, everybody there started off at one point with something simple and didn't know what to do. So, you know, as time goes on, you just become more comfortable with it

Host: And we all have good intentions.

Matt Danilson: Yeah. Well, hopefully we do. I mean, yeah, but...

Host: I just wanted to get fit.

Matt Danilson: Yeah, yeah. And just keep the resolution going. I mean, it's tough. But if you stick with it, it works out.

Host: Yeah, I had my daughter-in-law, she's an artist, and she commissioned something for me to put on my wall here at work that says, I can do hard things.

Matt Danilson: That's great advice. It really is.

Host: But I should have had the byline, just take it slowly.

Matt Danilson: You got to take a step forward. Yeah.

Host: Is there anything else about you that you think that people would benefit from knowing? We're going to talk about the phone number to call to make an appointment, the website, but other than that, have we missed anything?

Matt Danilson: Yeah. I'm not a particular provider that's going to push surgery as being the only solution. There are other ways of going around things. I specialize in MSK usage, so that means I use an ultrasound for some of my injections. So, we can look at non-surgical approaches your ailments, and we can work at it from that standpoint. I'm easy going, I like to say. I like to get to know my patients and educate them about what's going on. So, hopefully, they know if they come and see me, you know, we can be friends at the end of of it.

Host: That's awesome. You seem very personable and I'm very happy to have met you.

Matt Danilson: Oh, yeah. This is great.

Host: Perfect. Matt is currently taking appointments to be seen in Fort Dodge in Webster City. And of course, he will be assisting in surgery in Clarion. So to make an appointment to see Matt, call our Fort Dodge clinic at 515-955-6767 or you can visit our website at ishorthopedics.com.

Matt Danilson: That'll be great.

Host: Thank you so much for coming on today.

Matt Danilson: Thank you for having me.

Host: Thank you for listening to Iowa Specialty Hospitals and Clinics ISH Dish podcast. For more information on the topics we discussed today, visit us on the web at iowaspecialtyhospital.com. There, you can read a transcript of today's episode or previously aired episodes, as well as get the latest news from Iowa Specialty Hospitals and Clinics and explore all of the services that we offer. For the ISH Dish podcast, I'm Gina. Thanks for tuning in.