Ask Maria Michaelis, M.D., for a reason that physicians practicing medicine in the Omaha area should be members of MOMS, and she’ll quickly respond with one reason. Then, she’ll provide a few additional reasons.
First, she said, membership in the Metro Omaha Medical Society provides flexibility. “You can make your own opportunities with MOMS. You can invest as much or as little time as you want. The decision is always yours.”
Next, Dr. Michaelis said, MOMS provides its members with opportunities to meet their peers who practice in other specialties and from institutions different from theirs. “MOMS provides its members opportunities to collaborate outside their space, with physicians from different hospitals and other specialties.”
Another reason, she said, is advocacy. MOMS provides its members with opportunities to advocate for their patients. “We are a physician group. Our purpose is to preserve the safety and health of our citizens—our patients.”
As president of MOMS for 2023, Dr. Michaelis said, it’s her job to tell anyone who will listen why membership in MOMS is a good investment. And, in the same conversation, she’ll explain her priorities during her time as president—advocacy for other physicians and patients during what, no doubt, will be an intriguing year in the Nebraska Legislature and on a national level; and ensuring that the MOMS Foundation continues its directed purpose of supporting nonprofit organizations that promote health and well-being for Nebraskans.
During a recent conversation, Dr. Michaelis also discussed how and why she chose medicine for a profession and the challenges and opportunities physicians face. And for good measure, she shared a few stories about her life that her peers might not know, one of which involves her wedding and baseball bats.
While attending high school in Wakefield, Nebraska (situated in both Dixon and Wayne counties, about 85 miles north of Omaha), Dr. Michaelis recalled, she figured she might pursue education in college. After all, she said, she comes from a family of teachers.
Then, while playing high school softball her junior year, she slid into second base a bit too late and tore her ACL. For the record, she said, she was safe and managed, despite the injury, to score. That mishap and a season later, when she collided with another outfielder and suffered a compound fracture of her tibia and fibula, provided her with her introduction to medicine and the people who practice it.
Conversations with her orthopedic surgeon led to her shadowing him during her junior and senior years when he held a clinic in nearby Wayne. “My injuries and treatment, I realized, were interesting to me.”
Next stop was college at Wayne State as part of UNMC’s Rural Health Opportunities Program, followed by medical school. She said she never wavered from her decision to pursue medicine. Her only challenge along the way was to pick her specialty. She chose anesthesiology.
When picking her specialty, she recalled, she realized she wanted to spend time in the operating room, rather than a clinic. She also wanted to control her work schedule as much as possible as she knew she wanted children. During a rotation in Holdrege, Nebraska, she spent time with a nurse anesthetist (CRNA), whom she shadowed. “He really sold me on anesthesiology.”
She has remained sold ever since. At times, she admits, she looked for outside distractions to complement her work. Enter MOMS.
She joined MOMS as a medical resident—the lower membership dues for residents made that an easy decision. She wasn’t involved in a lot of the activities the first few years, but still enjoyed participating in an activity here and there. Fast forward several years and a conversation with MOMS Executive Director Carol Wang led to her service on the MOMS Foundation. She found the service rewarding, especially vetting the many organizations that request financial support from the Foundation.
“It was nice to learn about organizations that impact our local medical community. It was fun to reward those that were doing something beneficial.”
A later conversation with Wang—the timing was right as her daughters are getting older—led to her service as MOMS president-elect, followed by its president this year. Supporting and promoting the MOMS Foundation is one priority, she said, to ensure her peers that their financial support is invested wisely. Her other focus will be on advocacy, especially at the state level where issues such as reproductive rights are sure to take center stage.
She said she understands that physicians may not always agree on issues related to health care, but it’s critical that the safety and care of the patients remain their priority. A unified voice is always the goal, she said.
It’s also critical that physicians retain their empathy for their profession and their patients—something that was tested during the pandemic. “We have to help each other out. MOMS does its part.” She cited two examples. In 2021, MOMS established the R + R Physician Wellness Center, which provides physicians with a place to relax, gather and take health and wellness classes. LifeBridge, a Nebraska Medical Association program, is another resource. LifeBridge provides physicians with peer-to-peer coaching at no cost.
Besides her involvement in MOMS, Dr. Michaelis serves on the Nebraska Board of Medicine, which was established to ensure that the physicians and physician assistants practicing in the state meet minimum requirements for safe practice. The board, comprised of six physicians and two lay members, investigates complaints and disciplinary actions against physicians not abiding by set guidelines. Dr. Michaelis said the board has to, at times, revoke or suspend a physician’s license and to deny licensure for some physicians to practice in Nebraska.
“It doesn’t happen a lot, but our goal is to protect Nebraska’s citizens.”