Not all our doctors are on the front lines providing clinical care. Michael Todd, MD, uses his health care expertise and experience to help our ministry as a whole in the role of medical director.
While he may not be in a practice anymore, Dr. Todd plays a valuable part in our mission to provide good help to those in need in the communities we serve. In honor of Doctors’ Day, we sat down with him to discuss what motivates him each day.
Q: Why did you choose to go into health care?
A: I had two great mentors that shared with me the privilege of a career in health care – my mother, an RN, and my father, a family physician.
My dad was a beloved family doc. Growing up, he would haul my brother and I around on house calls with him which inspired me from a very young age. I had the honor of working with him for 20-plus years.
Q: Was there something in particular that inspired you to practice medicine?
A: With a grandfather and two uncles practicing medicine in the community along with my dad, I honestly thought that is what all adults did for a living! I have since learned there are other jobs out there.
Q: How is your day-to-day different than a physician within a practice?
A: Rather than a patient behind an exam room door, these days it’s an employer and all of their employees that I serve. I spend time understanding the pain points of employers around their health care experience and deliver solutions to help make health care easier and more cost effective. The overall goal is improved employee and employer outcomes.
Q: Why do you do what you do every day?
A: I get up every day looking to serve. It fills me up to achieve that. If I can help Mercy Health succeed, then that impacts their employees and the entire community’s health and well-being.
Q: What is the most rewarding aspect of being a doctor?
A: The spiritual calling to serve others, there is no higher honor than to provide compassionate care to those in your community.
Q: Throughout the challenges you’ve faced over the past year dealing with the emergency response to COVID-19, what has motivated you to press on?
A: I have felt that my training and all of the time I have dedicated to my professional development was almost perfectly suited for this difficult moment in history.
Has a Mercy Health provider made a difference in your life? Help us celebrate Doctors’ Day today by sending your provider a message of thanks.
