Dr. Susan Trout
Dr. Susan Trout recognized a love of science at a very young age. She remembers her mother, then a graduate student in nursing at Columbia University, teaching her how to use a stethoscope to listen to her heart and lungs. For Dr. Trout it was clear, even at age twelve, she would become the best physician she could. She has never looked back.
“My mom is a nurse, and when I was in sixth grade she went back to school to get her bachelor’s and then her masters’ in nursing. She would take me along to her classes, when I had vacation days or half days off of school,” Trout said. “I think she’s a huge influence on how I ended up being a doctor.”
After receiving her undergraduate degree from Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Trout went on to graduate with a doctorate of medicine from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. From 1990 through 1994 she completed a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She then completed a reproductive endocrinology fellowship at the same school before joining the faculty full-time to see patients, teach, and do research. She remained part of the UMDNJ faculty until 2001, when she joined a large private practice called RMA of New Jersey.
Desiring the more intimate one-on-one patient experience offered by a smaller medical practice, Dr. Trout left her job at RMA of New Jersey in 2002 and moved to Denver to join the staff at Colorado Reproductive Endocrinology.
Dr. Trout says that her personal struggle with infertility has made her a better doctor and has brought her a unique understanding of what her patients are experiencing.
“I think it made me a much better doctor having gone through all of that,” she said. “I knew what it was like to be on the other side of the exam table. I really can identify with patients and often times help them through it.”
It is this personal knowledge that Dr. Trout uses with every patient. She believes in giving couples the information and guidance they need to choose a treatment plan that is right for their needs and desires. She works hard to avoid unnecessary treatments or tests, and tries to give an honest account of what someone is likely to experience with a particular procedure or medication.
“I have really tried hard to keep my humanity and not see this like a business or think of a patient as just a number or a diagnosis, but to really try to connect with each patient and treat them like I would want to be treated. I get frustrated when I can’t help a particular patient, and I wonder how patients are doing after they are pregnant and have gone to their obstetricians,” she said.
Dr. Trout is board certified in reproductive endocrinology and infertility, as well as obstetrics and gynecology. In addition to writing research papers, Dr. Trout has at times been a regular contributor to Fertility and Sterility, the journal of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
Trout’s areas of expertise include, but are not limited to general infertility, ovulation induction, in vitro fertilization, transvaginal oocyte retrieval, embryo transfer, intrauterine insemination, minimally invasive and robotic surgical treatments along with the treatment of female and male infertility, recurrent pregnancy loss, abnormal menstrual cycles and polycystic ovarian syndrome.
In Her Own Words
Was there a defining moment when you just knew you wanted to be a physician?
“You know, I loved learning all of that medicine, even at age twelve. At that time, I told my mom that I wanted to be a nurse like her, and my mom said ‘No, you should go ahead and be a doctor some day.’ So I did!”
Besides your mother, was there anyone else who inspired you or who you considered to be a role model?
“I guess I had two role models actually. The second would be my dad. He is a metallurgist, he studied the structures of metals, and he would let me come to his lab and play with the liquid nitrogen and look under the microscopes and fun stuff like that. He definitely stimulated the scientific adventurer in me.”
With two educated parents, was there a huge emphasis on school and studying and good grades for you?
“Yes, for sure. My mom modeled great studying habits; she graduated third in her class at Columbia despite taking care of three young kids, a husband, and a household at the same time.”
Besides your interest in being a physician, did you have other passions when you were younger?
“I was once a ballerina. I studied ballet with the Garden State Ballet until I was 18, and my knees were so bad I had to have surgery. That’s when I decided that my brain might last longer than my knees, so I made the final decision to be a doctor and I’ve never looked back!”
How has your personal struggle with infertility made you a better doctor?
“I tell patients all the time, ‘I have been through this, if I tell you it’s not going to hurt, it’s not going to hurt; and if I tell you it’s going to hurt, it’s going to hurt.’ I see myself in my patients struggles every day, and I know what they are going through. It’s definitely made me a better doctor.”
Do you have a specific memory of an outcome with a patient that you are exceptionally proud of or happy with?
“Oh, there are so many wonderful couples that I am proud to have helped. It’s hard to pick just one! If I had to pick one to tell you about, however, it would be a couple named Marie and Joseph. She had to do IVF, and we took her eggs out on Easter Sunday, and she only had one egg. I thought to myself, don’t give up, there’s still a chance, and she got pregnant! When we figured it out, her due date was Christmas Day. I told her that I absolutely believe in miracles. I see them every day! She came back and had a second baby with us too!”
What is your favorite thing about working directly with your patients?
“I love making that connection with them, helping them, getting to know them, and rooting for them. They give me so much energy. I’m really good at computers too, but I could never sit in front of a computer screen all day. I need to be with people.”
What advancements in fertility medicine do you see in the nearer future?
“I think we are going to find a way to look at an embryo and tell whether it’s going to be able to make a pregnancy and whether it’s going to be a normal pregnancy or not. We may get to the point of being able to improve the quality of older women’s eggs, so that they can get pregnant with their own genetic child. I also think we’re soon going to have medication which doesn’t need to be injected, which would be nice.”
If you could do anything with your career in the future what would it be?
“I would love to find a way to help older women have babies with their own eggs; that would be a wonderful thing to have done.”
(12/1/2011)