Member Spotlight: Susan Dimick, MD, MS

Interviewed by NLA Membership Manager Brandi Rawls.

What triggered your interest in medicine?

Most of us who go into medical fields are natural rescuers. As a little girl, I filled up drawers in my house for broken popsicle sticks, rocks and other inanimate objects that looked broken or old – infirmaries in every drawer – my poor mother.

What motivates you to continue your career in medicine?

My joy comes from seeing patients, figuring out a diagnosis and most importantly, determining what I can do to prevent them from getting sick.

How did you become involved with the NLA?

I was introduced to the NLA by my mentor, Dr. Carl Rubenstein, who was one of the first certified clinical lipidologists. I had worked with him before medical school at the Oklahoma medical research foundation in the initial Lipid Research Clinics Primary Prevention trial in the 70s.

What would you like to see occur in the field of lipidology?

I would most like to see clinical lipidology become a certified program under the American Board of Medical Specialties and see fellowship programs pop up all over the country, including Oklahoma.

Tell us about your hobbies outside of the office.

Hobbies. Hmmmmm hobbies. I like going to football and basketball games with my family. Not really a hobby. However, I own a small business and my business takes all of my time. As a female small business owner and solo practitioner I do not really get any time to spare.

What is something surprising that most people do not know about you?

Most people are surprised when they ask me what “institution” I am with. I don’t work for anyone- just my patients- that tends to surprise people. The small business I own is The Central Oklahoma Early Detection Center, you can learn more at susandimickmd.com. I doeverything from payroll taxes, hiring and firing employees, inventory, and scrapping the ice off the sidewalks before clinic. It also surprises a lot of people that I am one of the last few solo practitioners. Being a lipidologist, a solo practitioner in a free market practice, and a small business owner makes me a bit of a renegade. Goes with my Oklahoma heritage I guess.

A lot of people are also surprised to find that I was raised in rural Oklahoma. Most people worked the land and did not go to college, certainly not women. I really should not be here. I guess there is a reason.

Is there anything else our readers would be interested in knowing about you?

Most important is that I love what the NLA does. It is a renegade too. Doing something that no group has done before. Birthing a new organization. “Boldly going” where no one has gone before. Starting a new association, two new journals, and embarking on a new field, new training programs, and making an effort to educate the medical community and the lay public in a science that addresses the epidemic disease of our era.