Dr. Drew Petersen, an ENT Physician, joins Sarah and Kenzee on this episode of Listen to the Helpers to talk about being a helper in his hometown and his journey to finding his helping profession.
Listen to the full episode below:
Sarah Goehring: Welcome back to Listen to the Helpers, a podcast created by the Fred Rogers Institute to elevate the voices of helpers everywhere. Fred Rogers once said, "When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." Today, we're joined by Dr. Drew Peterson, an ENT physician in West Virginia. At the end of today's episode, stay tuned as Kenzee and I reflect on our discussion with Drew in the context of Fred Rogers legacy and our own work at the Fred Rogers Institute.
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Sarah: We're so thankful to have you on this episode of Listen to the Helpers. To start off, can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Tell us who you are, where you are, what you do.
Drew Peterson: Um, sure. Yeah. Well, I'm happy to be on this episode and, uh, kind of honored just to even have the chat and the questions. So, um, yeah. So, who am I? So, uh, my name is Drew Peterson. I'm I live in Fayetteville, West Virginia. Um, and that's where I grew up. Um, so I've, you know, been raised here my whole life. Um, I'm a ear, nose, and throat physician that works here in town. And, um, let's see. I guess I've been back in town for, you know, six, seven years. Was was gone for an extended period of time for college, medical school, fellowship, and kind of like that phase of life. Um, so I've been back in my hometown for going on seven years now here working. Um, and you know that that that's kind of been a fun experience. Hometown that you know well, but almost like re uh re-inviting or re relearning your hometown, you know, has been a fun experience and um and it's been great. Um I think a lot of the success there is my wife has enjoyed it a lot here. So that was a little bit of the gamble. She's from southern Ohio and uh she's she's loved it as well. So it's just been great. And yeah, I'm a ear, nose, and throat physician surgeon. I uh I see patients in the clinic two days a week. I do surgery two days a week. Um and then Fridays, which is today, why I had time for for this, I uh I I try to leave it open as like personal space, but it gets occupied by, you know, often by work. Um but but you know, then just other tasks, life tasks, kids stuff. And so, um, that's kind of, you know, what my work week schedule looks like. And, um, you know, ear, nose, and throat. Um, we do, you know, see a lot of patients. Um, wide age range, a lot of pediatric patients, but also all the way up to geriatric patients as well. Um you know we kind of do like our classic ear nose and throat pediatric surgeries uh tonsillectomies and uh ear tubes and adoid ectomies and stuff like that. Uh but then we do a lot of skin cancer care, skin cancer surgery, thyroid health, thyroidectomies, lots of sinus health, sinus surgery, rhinology kind of the broad term for that. Um and uh so it's just kind of it's pretty diverse. You know what what the we do from like a work standpoint which is part of the appeal of it.
Sarah: Wow. You do so much and it sounds like you serve a really wide range of people as well which I feel like is kind of unique because there are so many professions that you either specialize in pediatrics or geriatric or somewhere in the middle. Um, so that's really interesting that you get the opportunity to serve so many different kinds of people.
Drew: Sure. Yeah. Yeah, it's true. Um, and then, you know, being like hometown, you know, I grew up here like I know a large percentage of my patient population. And um you know I used to at the beginning I kind of would get like a little nervous or have some hesitancy about caring for all these people that I have connections with in one way or another. Um, and it used to be kind of nerve-wracking, but it's honestly flipped to where it's now like almost more than the comfort zone. And I'm I would rather take care of, you know, I I want to say rather, but I I am certainly comfortable and find a lot of uh of uh you know, value in just taking care of the people that I know through life. It it's a you know, everyone's got like some goofy memory of me from childhood or whatnot and uh you know uh so it just it adds a you know kind of a funny unique flavor to it all.
Kenzee Knott: No, for sure. So like I have a two-part kind of question. Um what led you to be a doctor in general and what led you to that specific specialty?
Drew: Yeah, cool. Good question. Um and I I think because I uh my answer might not be like typical all or or you know a lot of a lot of physicians. Um so let's see. So so my parents are physicians. They are family practice uh docs um here in the same town as well. Um they're both retired. Um and you know I just like repelled the thought of medicine my whole life. I was it was not at all what I thought I wanted to do. Just I don't know it's what they did. So I just didn't want to follow their path just because and I you know was certain I could figure out whatever else I was going to do on my own. And so you know I just kind of like had no interest in it until really late in uh in college. And um I uh kind of was just searching for the easy what I felt was like the easy path, you know, like I was just flipping majors every semester, you know, I took the 101 level class of every, you know, every major that existed, you know, no fulfillment in any of it. And um you know, just like really struggled to kind of like figure out what it is that I was trying to do. And I was really really really late in the college, you know, in the the undergrad course of things. And I I kind of had like this family weekend where I just, you know, some family conversations and and it and it led me to think, well, I'm going to go and uh uh try out some of these science courses more to prove some of my family members wrong than anything else. Um and so I did started taking chemistries and whatnot and like I liked it a lot. It was really fulfilling and you know it was you know doing the quote harder classes was actually easier. Um probably because I was interested and because it it was almost like the hard work became fulfilling and then it was a driver itself. Um, and so, uh, so then it was easy. And so, you know, I went from like taking the bare minimum college credits to have full-time student status to then the next semester having to get special permission to exceed the maximum hours um, in order to like get all the prerequs um, in. And um, and again, it was like this giant increase in workload, but it was easier somehow. And uh you know so I kind of say that like the lesson there is that uh you know sometimes trying to you know avoid hard work is actually a lot more hard work then just do the do the work. Um and uh so yeah so I did you know it was very late in college ran through all of the premed requirements um but you know had fulfillment in that um proceeded into medical school and uh and that's kind of how my medical school journey started um it was pretty abrupt. It was not something that I had planned for you know throughout my life. It was actually something I had repelled for most of my life. Um, and then once I was in medical school, I knew I liked surgery. I knew I liked the hands-on stuff. Um, I uh, you know, I did the surgery rotation with a with a uh, surgeon that kind of he was kind of rough, kind of mean, kind of treated me horribly, you know, on a daily basis. And at the end of it, I still liked it. I was like, "Yeah, I I could I'm still okay with this." So, so I knew I wanted to do something surgical. um that it it it drew me and um I got recommended about ENT. It was a good mix of clinic experience where you connect with patients and all of the surgical side of things and um started, you know, uh learning about ENT, started doing rotations to kind of explore it. I loved it and just kind of moved forward from there. And uh I'm I'm very thankful for ENT as a specialty because it I think it it just fits my personality really well and it and it fits some of my personality strengths. And uh so when I'm training the medical students these days, I'm always telling them to like pick something that that that aligns with your strengths rather than your weaknesses. So that you know it' be very easy to be fighting against your weaknesses your whole career and that would be really crummy. Um and so you know that should be a big driver into like what you do in medicine like what specialty rather than whatever you think it is you know the whatever like how how financially rewarding it is or that you love orthopedics so you think that it's exactly what you want to do. Well, um it's it there's there's some other like nuance to think about like picking things that align with your strengths so that you're not fighting yourself for your whole career.
Sarah: Yeah, that definitely makes sense. And and doing what you what you want to do and what you're passionate about rather than what you're supposed to do, quote unquote supposed to do like like you were thinking what you were not supposed to do was maybe be in in a medical field, but then following your passions led you to where you are today. That's that's such an interesting story because I feel like I mean you started off by saying that your story is not like most who go into the medical field because I feel like you do hear a lot of stories about oh I always dreamed of being a doctor. I always dreamed of doing XYZ and that was always my life goal. So the fact that you made a like you said a pretty abrupt switch to that field and that it ended up being the best thing for you that's that's very interesting.
Drew: Yeah. Yeah. it uh you know I tell this story a good bit just working with med students and residents and so um everyone yeah everyone thinks life and their career whatever has to be this just like the way whatever the planned methodology is and it's just not true. There's there's a ton of possibility for kind of the DIY version of education, career, you know, personal development, whatever it is. You know, you you both have value. You know, the the standard way is great and the alternative DIY version also can be excellent. And so,
Sarah: and it's okay to change your mind, too. I feel like that's something that a lot of young people don't feel comfortable with because it's again you hear those stories of oh I've always wanted to be a doctor. I've always wanted to be a teacher. I've always wanted to be this or that. So that's what I did. And then it gets ingrained in you of oh well I should be following the path that I've set since I was 5 years old. But it's actually okay to change your mind and in a lot of cases it's good to change your mind because you and then end up finding your passion and what is really meant for you.
Drew: Sure. Yeah. My uh my undergrad degree is um uh my undergrad degree is in um geography. Oh wow. Because that's what I was kind of closest to and I had interest in it. I mean geography is fascinating in its own way. And so it was kind of the quickest way to get a undergrad degree and the premed prerequs. Um, and so I guess the backup plan was to, you know, get my geography degree and and probably be a teacher in some way.
Sarah: So it sounds like either way you wanted to go into some kind of profession to help people to some extent. So that leads me into my next question for you of what do you think it means to be a helper?
Drew: It generally kind of revolves around the thought of um you know giving of yourself to better someone else um you know and uh you know you usually at your own sacrifice which which might just be your time um and which is a big sacrifice I mean like the way we spend our time is our story that's like you know who we are and um you know, but but you're giving of yourself to at the betterment of someone else or something else. Um and uh and you can kind of think of it too on different scales all of of big impact, but you know like individually helping someone um where you know it's you know this person needs this assistance and you can provide that to them. um versus you know like bigger scale like leadership roles in companies or you know groups organizations whatnot um are also you know you're helping people in a very impactful way but it's more like bird's eye view and it's uh so uh um you know the uh as I was thinking about it the the more like direct you are like one-on-one helping someone you kind of get the immediate feedback of that right away and it's really wonderful. It's like I mean you know one of the best things about my job is I do get all this positive feedback immediately and it's so wonderful. Um you know not a lot of people realize the impact that they have on people's lives as much as they should and and that's a really sad statement. you know, people should know how impactful they are to other people. Um, but so so but I get a lot of this nice like direct feedback and um and it's great, you know, the more you move out into like more bird's eye view helping of others, leadership roles or or even politicians. I was thinking um you know your impact is kind of like removed from you. It's kind of it's in the future. It's further away. It might take time >> for that help to like be manifested and for you to see it or feel it. And I would imagine it makes it harder to stay excited about the role. And um it it makes it so that you have to be like more diligent to stay stay grounded, stay focused on what it is you're doing. Um and uh you know people you know politicians get a get a hard uh you know hard rep these days. Um and uh and I I I don't want to join in that voice. You know, I think it's probably they don't get the the immediate feedback of their efforts, but they also it is their responsibility to stay focused on what it is they're doing and not let all of the distractions and all the other uh extra input kind of creep in, which is sometimes good, sometimes not good. um the so the more direct you are I guess with with the the help that you're providing to people it's probably easier to like just feel the the the value of it.
Sarah: Yeah, that definitely makes sense and and that's I feel like how how fortunate that you are in a position that you can get that immediate and direct feedback of like oh I am helping somebody every day no matter what kind of day of work it is for you whether it is talking with medical students or meeting with a patient or performing a surgery like you are directly helping someone each day.
Drew: I try to.
Kenzee: No, for sure. And you've kind of touched upon what you do, you know, throughout our conversation today, but is there something that you wish people knew about what you do?
Drew: And like within the career, correct?
Kenzee: Yeah.
Drew: Yeah. Um well um you know uh I guess you know how much surgery is involved in ENT I think is something that some people know some people don't. Um and it's fun and it and again it's back to that it's very direct result. You know, even within the world of of medicine, you know, some docs, they're doing great things, but it's not like it's not like here's a problem I need to fix with my hands and get the immediate feedback. And so, you know, surgeons are definitely immediate feedback individuals and I'm guilty of that as well too. So, you know, I guess, you know, how much surgery is a part of it is I guess one statement. The I the other one I I guess I would say is um you know I end up doing a enormous amount of kind of like lifestyle non-surgical lifestyle medicine with patients and I think it's a very like under appreciated um undervalued part of medicine all the way back to you know our medical our medical education. It's not like a this huge component of it and you know lifestyle medicine getting into the the details of you know some how someone lives is often so so valuable more valuable than the surgeries that we do etc. And so I've kind of embraced that through one just personal interest. I I like the topic. Um and number two the patients kind of demand it whether they know it or not. Not everyone needs surgery. Not not everyone needs a medicine. In fact, most people don't need a surgery or medicine. Most people have there's some nuance in their life that is causing said symptom or or whatever it would be and di diving into that is um is very valuable for for folks. And so so we do a a ton of that at at my practice. Um partially because, you know, I I've made it a priority, you know, so like all the providers at my practice that it is a focus of what we do. So lots of time spent talking about, you know, what what people drink, how do they hydrate through their day, what's what do they eat, what's their food quality like? Um you know, their processed foods. Um, you know, we we really get into like a a quality of the food that you eat. Um, the, you know, what's your movement like, your exercise, um, you know, the quality of the food that you eat, but also just what's the quality of everything, you know, that comes in, you know, that that that's part of your day. So that includes the food you eat, but also the uh the the way you spend your time, the the content that you bring into your into your field of view, you know, your your uh your screen time, your electronic content, you know, if you fill your life with crummy food and crummy um crummy uh uh you know, ideas, crummy content, you you end up with poor mental health problems and poor physical physical health problems.
Sarah: Do you find that your So with that lifestyle medicine approach, do you find that your patients like are very receptive to that for the most part or do you find that there are people that come in and they're like, "No, I came to you cuz you're a doctor and I want medicine or you're a doctor and I want surgery. That's why I came to you not to tell me what I should and shouldn't eat or exercise or drink or whatever it is." So I guess what's like the general response from your patients to that approach?
Drew: I think it's a bit of both. Kind of all the above of what you just said there. Um I uh I think it's generally wellreceived. I and I I know that part of my kind of like one of the values that I bring as a physician is how I communicate with patients and like I kind of have a way of of getting into tough topics with them in like a non-judgmental way and they seem to uh kind of open doors and you know let down their guards to me that that I I know that like some other providers might not pull it off as well. Um, and again that's back to recognizing your strengths and weaknesses and leaning into them. Um, you know, like you know, having discussions with patients about their weight or their food quality or whatnot. You know, it's it's it sometimes is hard to do in a non-judgmental way. And um, and I've I I've kind of figured it out. I just you speak bluntly but also politely, no judgment in it. And like as soon as you do those things and you get into those spaces, everyone is kind of starved for that type of interaction. And so even like the tough patients, as soon as you like kind of get into those questions, people very quickly soften up often, you know, like we have emotional visits all the time. You know, people come in for uh, you know, for a surgical consult. We're quickly not talking about surgery. We are talking about something lifestyle. We're talking about like their sleep quality. Okay. Well, why aren't you sleeping well? Well, you know, all a bunch of emotional stress, traumatic stuff through life. We're we're into tears and you you know, so in the end, people do find it very valuable. You know, they're they're very appreciative of it. Um you know, they they'll joke like my staff will joke, people come in for this. um we spent 30 minutes with you in the end all I told you to do was like drink more water and get better sleep and and it's like you know like uh but I don't think people are leaving upset that I that I didn't do anything for them or you know didn't offer them anything. Um, you know, I try to like get people connected to appropriate resources, you know, counseling, nutritionists, um, you know, whatever like kind of those next step options and resources are. I'm I'm I'm not trying to just say, "Hey, eat healthy, period. Get out of here." You know, it's, you know, we got to get into a little bit of the what and the why and then get them connected to resources that they can get some more education themselves.
Sarah: That's really that's really great to hear that you are seeing your patients as the whole person and not just whatever issue or problem they're coming in telling you that they have or that they think they might have or what they might need according to their perspective, but you're really seeing them as a whole individual and really getting to the root of like who are you and what do you need as an individual, not as just a diagnosis. So, that's really refreshing to hear and it's really wonderful to hear and it sounds like your patients are very lucky to have you. Um, and I'm I'm wondering, do you have some kind of story about a time that you remembered your your why for doing what you do?
Drew: Like that question right there. It's almost like the things we were just talking about, you know, like when you ask someone like, you know, are are you happy at home or what's your sleep like? And it and it it's kind of like a emotionally vulnerable question where it like really quickly, you know, people could get, you know, uh get just emotional about that because sometimes they might not have a quick answer to that, you know, like what is your why? And and some people don't have an a quick answer or even an answer at all to that. Um, and so one, it's one thing that like we should all spend a moment thinking about and uh that's good content to like put in our in our lives. Uh, not an Instagram feed. Um, uh, so so that is an example of one of those types of questions. And when I read it, you know, I think I I probably had a similar response of it's like, well crap, like what is my why, you know, and uh it I I myself, you know, can can have some of that. Um you know, I uh um you know, I've got children now and they're four and seven and the uh I think like the easy answer is is family, you know, so immediate family. My wife's wonderful. You kids are great. Um, you know, and and they're a giant driver to things. Um, you know, as are my parents and my sister. Um, you know, they they all become both like your driver of why as well as uh kind of like your inspiration to like, you know, how you got here in the first place. Um, so I it's like kind of like a somewhat cliche like easy answer, but it but it is also probably the most honest and real driving answer for me at the moment at least.
Sarah: I I love that you mentioned that that is a good question for everyone to think about of like really thinking about what is your why and what like what makes you remember your why. Um, I think no matter who you are and what field you're in and what, you know, level of whatever field you're in, whether you're just starting out or whether you've been in your field for 50 years, then that's always important to think about and um really ground yourself in in reminding yourself why it is you do what you do. So, I'm I'm glad that you pointed that out because I agree that is something that everybody should think about.
Drew: Oh, yeah. You know, our our current culture too, it just it just wants to like take and take and take from us.
Sarah: Yes.
Drew: So, it's like so easy to just be um in the motions of, you know, work, email, responsibilities, eat, drink, sleep, and at the end it's like, well, like, did I have any fun? Did I enjoy anything there? Did I was there any fulfillment in that? And you you repeat that over and over and over again. You kind of like lose who you are. And um you know that that's just clearly not healthy. So um you know whatever way you can kind of remind yourself of your why. And sometimes too you could like what is your why? You might realize it's a uh selfish answer. you know, your your why might be um you know, uh that I just want like more free time to myself to play video games or more uh self, you know, more money, you know, might be it might be a financial answer. And and if that is your answer, you you might want to spend a moment of additional reflection there because there's probably a richer um more fulfilling answer in there.
Sarah: Yeah, absolutely.
Kenzee: No, thank you so much. Um so, thank you for speaking with us today, Drew. I just have one more question for you.
Drew: Yeah.
Kenzee: Any final thoughts for our listeners?
Drew: I I guess I would I would just you know kind of like echo some of the things that we talked about where it's like you know simplicity in life is often you know the key you know the and in that you know helping others you know that you know you know the common saying is that the the person giving gets more out of it than the person receiving the gift or the thing you know the Christmas present and it just it just couldn't be a more true statement and the more you just kind of uh succumb to that fact and realize it and embrace it, um the the the the quicker life gets better. Um and you know, the more you can just keep things simple, be honest with yourself and with others, it all kind of just naturally wraps into helping and caring for other people. and um you know and it's applicable to all jobs, all levels of life. Um and you know there's no one that's above or below that concept.
Sarah: I couldn't have said it better myself. Thank you so much for sharing that and thank you again for spending some time talking with us about what you do and your helping profession as an ENT physician. Um we are so thankful to know you and to have you join us today.
Drew: Awesome.
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Sarah: What a fun conversation with Drew. That was so lovely to get to know him and get to hear about his work as an ENT physician and surgeon. Um, Kenzee, what did you think about that conversation in terms of the six fundamentals of learning and growing?
Kenzee: Yeah, it was absolutely great. I'm going to be honest, I didn't know much about like an ENT physician, so I feel like I've learned a lot today talking to Drew. Um, in terms of the fundamental, I really associated solitude with a lot of what Drew talked about because he did talk about like, you know, you might, especially for remembering your why, reflect on why. What is your why? What does that look like? Is it a selfish why? Um, and if it is selfish, how can we think about giving and what that might look like? So, when I thought about what Drew was saying, I really thought that it's important to engage in solitude um when thinking about those reflections, I guess. Um how about you?
Sarah: Yeah, I definitely agree with that perspective on solitude. I was also thinking about self-worth when he was talking about how he sees his patients as people, not just patients, and really um likes to go with that approach of the lifestyle medicine rather than just assuming yes, you need medicine or yes, you need surgery, but like let's really take a minute to to figure out who you are and what you need as a person. It makes me think about how, you know, Fred Rogers often said, "I like you just the way you are." and really tailoring things to someone as an individual um not as like a prepackaged deal.
Kenzee: I thought it was really heartfelt that Drew took the time to like especially because he talked about questions of care and how often his patients don't get those type of questions like ones that are very emotionally vulnerable and that he often you know they don't get asked that question a lot especially from those around them because they may not have that kind of community. Um so that really stuck out to me as well.
Sarah: I love that he also made a point to mention that he tries his best to connect his patients to resources. So, like you said, when those people don't have opportunities to talk about the things that he's asking them to talk about, he'll offer resources that he can offer regarding counseling or um any other, you know, medical professional recommendations. But um I really like that he mentioned that because I feel like surprisingly I don't think it it should be surprising but in my experience surprisingly a lot of times when you go to a medical professional and you're seeking out resources they're a little bit caught off guard and they're like oh I don't know what to offer you or I don't know what's in this area. I know that's happened to me personally when it's like oh I'm looking for this resource on this thing and they're like I don't know. And that's a little disheartening to hear. So, the fact that he not only offers the resources, but doesn't necessarily wait to be asked for them, but is saying like, "I see you. I think this could help you. So, here's what I'm going to offer."
Drew: I do think part of that is because Drew is from his, you know, he works in his hometown um and has those resources available because they a have probably been available for some time or b, you know, his parents are also like retired physicians, so that probably plays a part in it as well.
Kenzee: Yeah. What a cool thing to be able to be a helper in your hometown at that level. I feel like there's an element of like having to relearn your community from a different perspective, but also it sounds like he's very thankful for the position that he's in where he's in because he really is helping his own community. He's helping his own people and really giving back in such a special way to people of all ages in his community.
Kenzee: Right. Exactly. And I also really like um he used the phrase when he was talking about, you know, figuring out his path in life, like a DIY version of his career. That was so cute. And I feel like our work with college students, we should probably start using that in our
Sarah: Yes. A DIY path to life. Isn't that what we all have?
Kenzee: Yeah, for sure. For sure.
Sarah: Kenzee, do you have anything else you would like to add to this reflection on Drew's conversation? Yeah, Drew really brought up like a simplicity of life. Um, and it really made me think of like Fred's thoughts on simple and deep, how the simple things in life, there can be a very deep aspect of them and they're super important. Um, so from there, I think there is that connection of like, you know, even though it may seem simple, in reality, there is a very deep aspect to it.
Sarah: Yes. I love that. And that idea of simple and deep is something that we ground our work in at the Fred Rogers Institute. We try to keep that in mind in everything that we do so that, you know, we have this reminder of something with depth doesn't have to be overwhelming. It can be quite simple and have a lot of depth to it. And we hope that we hope that our work has that impact on people. I think just from our conversation with Drew, it seems like his work has that impact on people. Um, that it's approachable yet meaningful. Um, and Fred Rogers’ work definitely had that impact on people and it was definitely simple and deep.
Kenzee: I agree. No, once again, thank you so much, Drew, for joining us. That was a great conversation.
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