Dr. Patti J. Brettell This is Me

Education

 Web References

1. 1. Northwest Business Monthly

   www.nwbusinessmonthly.com/nwbm - [Cached]

   Published on: 12/1/2006   Last Visited: 2/10/2007

   Patti Brettell: Never to late to find one's calling Making the change from research and development to neurology
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   Neurologist Dr. Patti Brettell spent 15 years in the business world before attending medical school.
   
   After 15 years working in research and development, Dr. Patti Brettell had the distinct pleasure of being the oldest student in medical school. Switching out her business degree for a profession as a neurologist 11 years ago was not an easy task, but it was something she knew she had to do. "I don't think I was ever prepared for the emotional stamina it takes to make a change like that," she says. "The stamina to lose income and watch your retirement get frittered away, wonder if you are ever going to be good at this thing when you used to be good at something else. It requires a great deal of faith and knowing at the end, what you do will help other people." Over the age of 40, Brettell decided to attend Chicago Medical School and now works for St. Joseph Neurology Associates. In 2004, she became the first neurologist in Bellingham. "What really attracted me (to Bellingham) was the high caliber of medicine that is practiced here. I always wanted to (practice) more rural medicine, but had some trepidation about getting into places where, as a neurologist, all my consults would say, ,we can't figure out what's going on' and that is so not the case in this community," she says. Brettell, who was living in Sacramento, CA., and did her residency at University of California at Davis, found St. Joseph Hospital in a medical journal. After an interview with an Everett clinic fell through, she called St. Joseph and asked for an interview. Brettell's son lives in Seattle and she wanted to get back to the area, but didn't know anything north of the city existed until calling about job openings. After getting the job two years ago, Brettell helped develop the medical group and has watched it grow with the addition of two more neurologists. "When I first started here, my goal was to get some neurologists here so we could answer the phone. Basically, get the consults in. Our next goal is to figure out how we are going to cover all the specialties we have to," she says. Although the office sees all patients, each physician is attempting to develop some expertise in a different area, in order to more effectively help the community, she says. Brettell's special interests are Multiple Sclerosis and movement disorders, such as Parkinson's disease. In medical school, Brettell created friendships with MS researchers and became fascinated with the pathology and science behind MS research. The love of the science and the understanding that perhaps she can help prevent a person from being in a wheelchair fueled her desire to help the community. "I've always had passion in everything I ever did. MS is so compelling to me because it's so debilitating and hits young people," she says. "There is nothing more heart wrenching than seeing a 20-year-old, like I did, who came in unable to walk and she was going to get married on Saturday. She came in on Wednesday and she has one of the worst (cases of) MS I've ever seen in my life. When you see that, it's hard not to realize you can impact someone's life." The young woman went to Las Vegas and got married, Brettell says. She was able to walk down the aisle, with the help of steroids prescribed by Brettell. In the near future, Neurology Associates is planning to move into a new building. Along with the expansion, the practice is kicking off plans to become a primary stroke center, a service Bellingham does not currently have. "I think there are other needs in the community that we have yet to identify and we'll be working with the medical director at the hospital to understand what those needs are and be able to add staff as we feel we need to do so," she says. "That is our mission and the mission of the hospital, to just serve the community. We never lose sight of that." Brettell entered the field of medicine because she had an overwhelming desire to be of service to the underserved, she says. Her ideals have been a perfect fit with the mission of St. Joseph Hospital.
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   It isn't why we went into medicine," Brettell says. Making the decision to change careers in the middle of life, is not an easy task, but Brettell knew her decision could make the difference in someone's life. "Now, I've never been happier," she says.
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   Patti J. Brettell, M.D. Neurology St. Joseph Neurology Associates 2950 Squalicum Parkway, #B Bellingham, WA 98225 360.756.6870