Serving Where It Matters Most: Dr. Schroeder-Toya's Mission to Support Minnesota's Native and Diverse Communities Through Family Medicine
Third-year Woodwinds Hospital Family Medicine resident Michael A. Schroeder-Toya, MD, JD, is a native of New Mexico who attended the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth campus. After practicing law, Schroeder-Toya decided to become a family medicine physician to help make a positive impact in diverse and underserved communities in Minnesota. In this interview, she shares what she has gained from residency so far and how it is equipping her to meet her future goals.
Why did you choose the Woodwinds residency program? How did it align with your practice and interests?
I was very intentional in my decision. I ranked Woodwinds first in my selection process, and I was pleased when it worked out for me.
Ultimately, I wanted to work with a diverse population, including economic diversity, which was also really important to me. The Woodwinds Family Medicine Residency Program has a diverse patient group with being located in Frogtown, and then of course Woodwinds Hospital out in the suburbs. So I really wanted a good mix of individuals from the community to serve them as their physician. I was also interested in working in an underserved community. That was also a big driver.
Finally, the healthcare legal partnership that they have established there was a huge consideration for me.
You’re a third-year resident. How has your experience as a resident evolved since you began?
I would say this experience has just reaffirmed my commitment to serving a Native American community. Within a family medicine program, there's a lot of work to be done and a lot of opportunities to engage with our local Native community here in Minneapolis, which is pretty strong.
There are 11 tribes in Minnesota. Making those connections and reaffirming my commitment has been something that's been a little bit eye-opening for me because I do see that with family medicine, there's strong connections to immigrant as well as refugee communities, but a little bit less so with others.
Residency in general has emphasized to me the importance of cultural humility in our profession and making sure I always remain curious and also remember where I came from. With many of my patients, although we are from different parts of the world and cultural backgrounds, there's a lot of overlap, which is invaluable because it makes things more relatable.
What might you tell someone who's about to go into family medicine residency?
I would tell them that family medicine is great because there's something for everyone. If you want to do full spectrum, you can certainly do that. If you don't, you can do that too.
Also, it’s a great way to make an impact on the local community. That can certainly be something like serving in a suburban community where maybe you're going out to your kids' soccer games and helping out with first aid and keeping kids safe from heat exhaustion. Or you might be serving a much larger community and advocating for rural physicians and the patients they serve.
As a former practicing lawyer, your career has been grounded in serving others and fighting health inequities. How has Woodwinds residency program prepared you for your next career goals?
My program has been a central support in my development of my personal and professional interests. I have received support from faculty like Drs. Weinmann, Freeman, Newman, and of course, our program director, Dr. Martin. They have given me a lot of freedom to explore my interests. They may not always know the answer, but I've never heard “no” from them. I've heard, “Well, I don't know, but we can help you with that. I'm sure we know someone.”
As a result, I've had a lot of opportunities to pursue my interest in reaching out to the urban American Indian community and trying to forge some connections with them, join things that are of interest to me to contribute something, or just to learn something new as well.
Residency at Woodwinds has also strengthened my leadership skills. I had the opportunity to go to the Resident Leadership Academy, selected by my residency program. The obvious question for someone like myself was: What could something like that teach me that maybe I don't already know? To my surprise, I found it really useful for making connections with my colleagues from different areas of medicine. More importantly, it gave me the courage and inspiration to get myself out there and move beyond just the sphere of residency as well as the University of Minnesota.
As a result, I ended up seeking out a community group, and now I am co-chair for a community leadership team organized by the Minnesota Department of Health, focusing on safe sleep for babies to reduce unexpected infant deaths. For example, infant deaths from SIDS and household accidents within the African American and Native American communities, since those are the two communities most affected by this.
What is a typical day of residency like for you (if there is a typical day)?
I really enjoy being a physician. I will say what it is not for me. I no longer think about next week, next month, next year as being something better than today. Whereas when I was a lawyer, just due to the amount of pressure and workload, it was always thinking about it like, “If I can just get through this, then it'll be better.” I've never felt that way as a physician. For me, that is a huge gauge as to how it is that I'm doing.
Lots of people like to ask me, “How is residency going?” Asking in such a way to suggest being miserable and tired. I tell them it's fine, and they're like, “No, really, how's it going?” And I'm like, it's great because even if I have to work a whole day, it ends. I can go home and I don't have any more work to do because I'm not taking patients home with me. It's only 12 hours a day. I get to wear professional pajamas and I can sleep on the job (assuming I'm working overnight).
So for those reasons, it's just hard to compare. I also know that my experience is very much different from some of my colleagues. In some cases, this is their first job and they don’t have the same experience to draw from to help get them through the difficult parts as easily.
What do you like best about learning, living, and practicing in Minnesota?
There's a lot of opportunity to serve different communities. I like the fact that there's a lot of different health systems here too.
I would also like to emphasize that I am very grateful for the education that the University of Minnesota in particular has given me, both in undergrad, medical school, and now medical training. As a result, I do find it has compelled me to want to remain in Minnesota, to give something back to the state that has invested so much in me.
My experience hasn’t been perfect, but at the same time, the University of Minnesota still made me, an American Indian, into a physician. Thus, I have a strong desire to serve the people of Minnesota in a way that is meaningful.
