Family Medicine Clinician Spotlight: Christine Albrecht, MD
Dr. Albrecht is a family medicine physician with 19 years of experience at Lakewood Health System. She has been the chief medical officer since 2020. She has taken multiple groups to Lakewood Health System's sister hospital, Tabaka Mission Hospital, in rural Kenya for education and collaboration. Teaching has been an important component of Dr. Albrecht's career. She has precepted multiple medical students (as an Rural Physician Associate Program preceptor for over 10 years) and physician assistant students prior to taking over the CMO role. She is looking forward to teaching residents as part of the new Lakewood Rural Family Medicine Residency Program in Staples, Minnesota.
What brings you joy in practicing your specialty and why?
I love to practice family medicine because of the variety of people I get to see. I still work in the emergency department, hospital, clinic, and nursing home, as well as my administrative role. So that wide variety just keeps everything fresh and makes me enjoy what I do.
Why did you choose family medicine?
It’s kind of an interesting story because I always thought that I wanted to be a surgeon or a psychiatrist. Then when I was on a study abroad program in Kenya during my last year of undergrad, I realized I really wanted to help everybody. So when I got into medical school and saw that family medicine was that specialty where you get to see and do everything, I was completely all in. When I did all of my medical school rotations, I would think “I really love this, but I don't want to do it all day.” I just kept having that experience and realized that I really wanted to do family medicine, where I can take care of everyone.
What advice would you give to yourself as a physician just starting out?
Never stop learning. Always keep teaching because teaching allows you to stay on top of your game. Not only are you influencing and helping the next generation of family medicine providers, but you're also staying on top of the latest research and guidelines out there because you need to be an expert to teach.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
I have a 350-tree apple orchard and a large garden. I also love to hunt mushrooms. We have a lake home, so we like to get up there and do a lot of fishing as well.
What are your key messages when teaching clinical care?
First off, do no harm and allow the patients to help make decisions in their healthcare. It provides a healthier relationship for you and the patient. It provides that space of trust, and the patients really feel like they're being heard. And then when you actually need to give them hard advice or advice that you think is important, they will listen.
What are you particularly proud of as you consider your clinical career so far?
One of my proudest things is that so many of my previous students are now my partners.
What do you hope to achieve in the years to come?
We're just starting our Lakewood Rural Family Medicine Residency Program in Staples, Minnesota, and I'm super excited about this. I want it to be one of the pinnacles of my career, starting off this successful program and continuing to educate well-trained family medicine doctors in the area – doctors who someday will be able to take care of me.
