Amanda Wilde (Host): Family medicine practitioners are the ones we turn to for absolutely everything, so they have to know a lot about a lot of different areas of medicine. Next, meet Kelly Orze, the newest member of the Woodlawn Health Team, and hear about her journey to become a physician assistant and what inspired her to take up the challenges of family medicine. And we may get a few fishing tips as well.

This is Woodlawn Health Doc Talk, a podcast from Woodlawn Health. I'm Amanda Wilde. And Kelly, it is great to have you here. Welcome.

Kelly Orze: Hi, Amanda. Thanks for having me.

Host: Well, as I sort of alluded to in the introduction, family medicine is really different as opposed to emergency medicine or other specialty areas, can you define family medicine a bit more for us?

Kelly Orze: Yeah. So, family medicine is very daunting. It's not something that I was always dead set on. what I was set on is a space where I can build relationships with patients over a long period of time. Emergency medicine and urgent care was something I considered at one point. But something I really wanted in my career was being able to build relationships with my patients.

I want those types of relationships where I get to know my patients first as people. And medicine is so individualized and unique to each patient. Each person deserves to be cared for physically, mentally, and emotionally. So, that's something I can definitely accomplish in this role as a family medicine PA.

Host: So, this really suited your personality and, like you said, allowed you to see each person as an individual. What is the point you knew that this was going to be your career path?

Kelly Orze: Honestly, it wasn't until I interviewed with Woodlawn. I interviewed with several different types of specialties and practices. And that's something so wonderful about the physician assistant career, is that I could really go into any specialty or practice that I felt like. But when I interviewed with Woodlawn, it just felt so fitting. And Dr. Binfet is my collaborating physician and he was willing to teach me everything he knows and that's extremely important to have a collaborator that supports you and is willing to help you learn.

Host: Can you talk about exactly what is the role of physician assistant? I just learned from you it's physician assistant and not physician's assistant, and I imagine that is a distinction.

Kelly Orze: It's a little misleading when people say physician's assistant. It kind of sounds possessive in a way. We're very close to nurse practitioners in a way that we are mid-level providers, able to see our own patients, come up with diagnoses and prescribe our own medications. So, I do get to have autonomy in some aspect, but I will always have a collaborating physician, to bounce ideas off of and get advice from them and make sure that we're coming up with the same plan collaboratively for a patient.

Host: Well, clearly, that is something you love about what you do. Can you talk more about what you like about your role as physician assistant?

Kelly Orze: Yeah. Especially as a family medicine physician assistant, I love the fact that I can see patients of any age from all walks of life. I never leaned more towards children versus adults versus geriatrics. So, I get to see the best of all worlds in family medicine. and the other part that I really love about primary care is I adore performing small procedures from cryotherapy to shave biopsies. I find it really enjoyable, and it really breaks up the typical workday.

Host: So, there's lots of diversity, both in your work and in your patients who are in all stages of life. You said you had a really good experience realizing family medicine was for you when you interviewed at Woodlawn. Why did you choose to come here?

Kelly Orze: I chose Woodlawn for a variety of reasons. I moved to Plymouth a little over a year ago to live with my fiancé, and I had always heard good things about Woodlawn and the community, but I had never personally received care here. But when I first interviewed here, every single person I met was so kind and friendly, all with smiles on their faces. And it was genuine, I could tell. I quickly learned how long people had been working at Woodlawn and realized that our staff is here to stay. And that was extremely comforting feeling too. Those that interviewed me, they really fought for me. And I could tell that they valued me not only as a new provider, but as a person.

Host: And that is something you're going to pass on in your care, I can tell. Also, I know you're a native Hoosier. What are some things you like to do in your spare time?

Kelly Orze: Well, lately, my hobby has been planning a wedding. My fiance and I have been engaged since Christmas time in 2022, so a long engagement, but our wedding is this August and quickly approaching. So, I've been doing a lot of wedding planning. But besides that, we love to go fishing. We like to hike and take our dogs on walks. My dogs are my babies. I have a nine-year-old blue heeler and a one-year-old Frenchie. So, I'm very busy.

Host: Wow. And what kind of fishing do you do?

Kelly Orze: Well, I fished since I was a little kid, my dad just taught me the basics with, you know, a bobber and a worm. But when I met Matthew, my fiancé, he really opened my eyes to the variety of different things you can do in fishing. I just learned this summer how to use a jerkbait and a swimbait, so I'm kind of trying to master those at this point. We love to fish. We've caught some five-pound bass recently, so that was really fun. We have a 140-gallon fish tank, so we have a pet smallmouth bass and a turtle, and we just recently got rid of a catfish that we had for over three years.

Host: So, you do not mount them on the wall, you let them live in a tank.

Kelly Orze: Exactly. We do have two mounts, but they're fake, they're just replicas of pictures of our best catches.

Host: I don't know if this leads well to my last question, but what is your all-time favorite restaurant? It doesn't have to be seafood.

Kelly Orze: I don't think I have a favorite, honestly. We love like sandwich joints, I love burgers. But also like if we're going fancy, love steak, love lobster, so maybe Ruth's Chris, that might be my favorite. But that's for special occasions, obviously.

Host: Yeah. That's a standard one. And again, as an Indianan, you know, it's important that you enjoy a good steak. Kelly, thank you so much for your work, your excitement, and enthusiasm about joining the Woodlawn team. I am sure your patients will enjoy you, and it's going to be a successful partnership.

Kelly Orze: Thank you. Yes, I hope so too. I'm excited to be here and start seeing my own patients.

Host: That was Kelly Orze, family medicine physician assistant with Woodlawn Health. For more information, please visit our website@woodlawnhealth.org or call 574-223-9393 to schedule an appointment. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social media. Thanks for listening to Woodlawn Health Doc Talk, a podcast from Woodlawn Health.