Mary Schoenbaum, NP-C, has taken care of thousands of surgical patients in her nearly 20 years with Keck Medicine of USC.
Today, as the nurse practitioner (NP) who helped launch the preoperative cardiac evaluation clinic at Keck Hospital of USC, she is expanding access to care with a new clinic at Keck Medicine of USC — Arcadia.
What does your job entail?
Before a patient undergoes surgery, the surgeon wants to know their cardiac risk. In my NP-run clinic at Keck Hospital, we conduct thorough cardiac examinations, including health histories, echocardiograms and stress tests, to identify the patient’s risk of having a cardiac event during surgery.
We see patients before orthopaedic, bariatric, vascular, urological, oncological and transplant procedures.
My clinic was originally one day a week, but before I knew it, interest exploded, and we’re now five days per week with the addition of more NPs.
I love the opportunity to meet with patients and their families, and to use my role to help take care of them.
Tell us about the new pre-op clinic at Keck Medicine of USC — Arcadia.
It’s a big win for local patients because they can stay closer to home for their pre-op workups.
We all practice the same Keck Medicine mission and philosophy, so the care is the same high-level quality.
I am proud and honored to now provide this care in the Arcadia location.
How do you spend your time outside of work?
I volunteer with the Preventive Search and Rescue program at Joshua Tree National Park. I provide trail information and first aid, and I make sure visitors have water.
It’s great because I love to hike, I love people and I love the national park.
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