Intro: Another informational resource from UK HealthCare. This is UK Healthcast, featuring conversations with our physicians and other healthcare providers.

Venita Currie (Host): Visiting your primary care physician is one of the best ways to stay healthy and ahead of developing health issues. These medical professionals are the ones we turn to to manage our colds and mysterious aches and pains that seem to come out of nowhere. UK HealthCare has recently opened a new location in Kentucky to make it easier for you and your family to keep your doctor's appointment.

Dr. Ginny Gottschalk is the Chair of UK's Department of Family and Community Medicine. We're going to talk about the unique role of primary care physicians and the exciting new location, services, and exceptional care at UK Hamburg. Welcome to UK HealthCast, a podcast from UK HealthCare. I'm Venita Currie. And welcome, Dr. Gottschalk.

Ginny Gottschalk, MD: Thank you. I'm glad to be here today.

Host: Well, my first question to you is about the new location. Where is it, and what led to the unveiling of this new location?

Ginny Gottschalk, MD: Absolutely. So, UK HealthCare Hamburg is located at 2700 Old Rosebud Suite 110 in Lexington, Kentucky. This is our newest location of family and community medicine. So, we're there providing primary care for patients of all ages. A big push behind opening this new location was providing increased access to the important primary care for the community of Lexington, but also specifically our own UK community.

Host: So, your beautiful new facility might be inspiring some of our listeners to schedule a much delayed doctor's appointment. What's your elevator pitch for someone who really doesn't like to go see the doctor?

Ginny Gottschalk, MD: I understand that it can be anxiety-provoking, or maybe just one of those things on your to do list that you really want to keep putting off, but truly establishing with a primary care provider who you're going to build a relationship with over years is really an important thing for your health. As you mentioned earlier in the introduction, this is really your first stop. This is the place where anything that comes up concerning your health, whether that's a problem that you want to figure out the answer to, or maybe you just want to try to live your best life, be the healthiest version of you that you can be, make sure you're getting any screening tests that you might need, all of that can happen with your primary care provider.

And once you've gone and you've met that person, you've had a couple of visits with that person, you really build a close relationship with them and you have trust in what their recommendations are. And then, that can become a very safe and really a positive place for people to go and talk about their health concerns.

Host: You know, I have a healthcare provider that I love and I've seen for many, many years. And as you said, you feeling safe and feeling welcomed and even part of the family really makes those doctor visits joyful. How do UK primary care providers build trust with their patients?

Ginny Gottschalk, MD: I think that happens in a lot of ways. You know, as a family physician myself, I feel really honored that patients entrust, you know, their healthcare with me, that they share things with me that they might not have shared with even their closest friends and family members. So, a big part of that is just listening. It's really learning about the patient as a whole person, and that's a big part of what we do in Family and Community Medicine. We don't just focus on your heart and your blood pressure or your diabetes. We really think about you as a whole person and that includes maybe treating multiple members of your family or learning about the fun trip you went on this summer or what you do for your work, because we really believe that all of that plays an important role in your health. And so, the more we know about you, I think the better we can take care of you.

And also, we ask a lot of questions and sometimes that can be hard for people because it can seem maybe a little invasive or like we're trying to get to your deepest, darkest secrets, but truly asking those questions just gives us more information and the more we have about you, again, the better plan we can develop with you to help you be the healthiest person you can be.

Host: Yeah. Well, asking questions kind of go both ways when we have this conversation with our primary care physicians, what are the questions we should be asking, especially if it is our first time meeting them? What are the things we should definitely know before we leave the room?

Ginny Gottschalk, MD: I think some important things to think about are those kind of screening or preventive tests or labs that we might think of. There are very standard guidelines, where our organizations recommend depending on your age, maybe some of your risk factors. There might be tests that are recommended for you to screen for certain diseases. So, asking if there are any tests that need to be done, even though you may be healthy, to catch things early. So, I think that's an important thing.

I think also just asking some logistical questions about how the office works. What do you do if you wake up and you're sick and you think you need to be seen that day? Or what do you need to do if you have to change your appointment? How can you contact the office? Hopefully, you won't have to be in the hospital, but what's going to happen if you have to go to the emergency department or be admitted to the hospital? How will that information be relayed to your primary care provider?

Host: One of the things I want to keep in mind is that there are folks who really are pretty scared about going to the doctor's office for whatever reasons that may have happened. It really is an obstacle for them. What's your best pitch to convince people that they should take that step in meeting with their physician?

Ginny Gottschalk, MD: I think that it's really important to develop that trusted relationship with someone. And if you don't ever go to a primary care provider's office and try to meet that person and find that you do trust and you feel you can build rapport with, then you're really missing out on a lot of opportunities to improve your health for early detection of diseases and for management of chronic diseases that you may have that you don't even realize because you might not have any symptoms.

Host: And I think, you know, that word trust is really key. And if you don't feel that trust with someone in particular, you know, there's probably another host of other physicians that that person might be able to go to, because it really is a personality fit along with, you know, making sure that they are qualified to help you with your medical conditions, but personality fits are important as well.

Ginny Gottschalk, MD: I totally agree with that. And I think as the patient, you should always feel empowered to make sure that the provider you're seeing you feel comfortable with and you've been able to build that rapport with. And sometimes there just isn't a good fit and that's okay. And it's important as the patient to advocate for yourself and finding someone else that maybe you feel more comfortable with. Because if you're not able to share openly and be comfortable with that provider, then they're not going to be able to give you the best care that you need.

Host: One of the things you said earlier really caught my attention is that, if you do have a primary care physician that you visit with yearly, they are the frontline folks that can help you determine if something is not working right. And they are the people that can alert you to an impending health issue. That's one of the biggest reasons to have a primary care provider, wouldn't you say?

Ginny Gottschalk, MD: Absolutely. It's always better to have that relationship established with someone before you develop a problem, because then you kind of get into panic mode sometimes about what is going on, where am I going to go, who's going to help me with this. And whatever that is, really there's nothing off the table for your Family and Community Medicine provider.

So whatever that concern is, you go to that person. And if they're not able to treat that fully themselves, then they'll get you to the person that you need to see. And so, it's nice to already have that established relationship where you can feel comfortable sharing that and not feeling like you have to find someone kind of at the last minute.

Host: Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for this great conversation today. I hope our listeners feel empowered to partner with their primary care physicians to stay healthy. That was Dr. Jenny Gottschalk. For more information, visit ukhealthcare.uky.edu. Thanks for listening to UK HealthCast, a podcast for UK HealthCare.