Dr. Ann Lindsay
Clinical Professor of Medicine at Stanford School of Medicine
“I was influenced most by a friend of mine's mother- who was a physician! She was a wonderful mentor for me- I didn't know what I wanted to do, but she would always urge me to talk to female physicians and learn from their experiences! It really changed my life and perspective.”
Read Dr. Ann’s full profile below
What do you do every day?
I'm co-director for Stanford Coordinated Care, a clinic designed to help people with chronic illnesses lead healthy lives. Half of my day is spent seeing patients and working with my clinical team. the other half is working with medical staff and residents at other hospitals, or getting data together to analyze the effectiveness of what we do. It's nice to have a mixture of teaching, research and a lot of meetings- to get the things we need!
Why do you love it?
I love interacting with patients and getting to know them personally and figuring out what makes them tick! I love being part of such a rich teamwork setting- patients get really good care and we have everyone from a pharmacist, dietician, PT etc working together. I have only been at Stanford two years- to build and test out this model of a clinic for a high cost high risk population.
What were your moments of fear and challenges in your career?
For 28 years I was a family practitioner in a small town in Northern California- running a business and giving good care is a challenge. Then I was a county health official and that's challenging because of the responsibility of the population's health and then the politics involved. Leaving all that and joining Stanford was a huge challenge.
My husband and I have two children and now we have a beautiful granddaughter- we were fortunate to split one job for ten years so there was always someone at home. It meant that we both the opportunity to be professionally growing but also participate in family life.
What are some of the latest innovations in science that you are most excited about?
There are tremendous technological innovations- I find the challenge is getting people who have chronic illnesses motivated to do something to better their health. I hope what we are doing is reproducible and can make an impact!
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in a small town in Massachusetts.
Who was your favorite teacher and why?
I was influenced most by a friend of mine's mother- who was a physician! She was a wonderful mentor for me- I didn't know what I wanted to do, but she would always urge me to talk to female physicians and learn from their experiences! It really changed my life and perspective
What is your unique talent?
Bringing people together in a community around a problem to solve it!
"Never giving up!"
Tell us about your personal style.
Be natural! You can't be too flamboyant- you have a lot of freedom but you do get judged by what you wear! Have confidence in your body!
Is there a current book or book you love?
I love the book "Cutting for Stone" by Abraham Verghese. It starts in Ethopia, with identical twins whose parents are physicians and just follows their incredible stories! It's an amazing look at being a physician and what that entails and the whole training process and how you learn how to take care of people and put them in a position of priority. It takes a great look at FMG (foreign medical graduates) and the amazing work that do. It's extremely inspirational!
What’s next for you?
I'm looking forward to working on research to show that our model here is working- our focus on patient goals can be the answer to adverse health outcomes and medical care in this country.
