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The Everett Clinic offers a comprehensive surgical program with board certified surgeons of the highest caliber performing more than 3,000 surgeries per year – which equates to outstanding, up-to-date surgical skills. The Everett Clinic orthopedics team is committed to solving bone and muscle problems. The Clinic provides surgical correction and preservation of the function of the skeletal system, its joints, and associated structures such as ligament, tendons, and muscles. The Clinic also offers physical medicine and rehabilitation services as well as sports medicine.

Interview with Dr. Scott C. Schaaf, The Everett Clinic

INTERVIEWER: Why did you choose to practice at The Everett Clinic?

DR. SCHAAF: For one thing, the reputation. They have an excellent reputation in the area. When I first moved to Washington State, I was working at the small hospital up in Arlington. I was looking for something that was a little bit bigger, that was a little bit more secure.

Honestly, Dr. Frost, who is also in our department, called me up, and asked me if I’d like to join. Since I had a lot of respect for him and he’s an excellent surgeon, and a good friend, I thought that would be a good fit for me as well in that department.

So not only the security in the size of The Clinic and the reputation, but also the camaraderie I had within my own department is what led me to join The Everett Clinic.

INTERVIEWER: How would you describe The Everett Clinic’s orthopedic department?

DR. SCHAAF: If a friend asked why he should go to The Everett Clinic orthopedic department, the first answer would be that you can’t go wrong. There’s not a bad doctor or a bad physician’s assistant there. They are all excellent. I would trust any of them with my family, without batting an eye.

There’s also a sense of collegiality amounts us; in a way, it’s a built-in second opinion. If any of us have a question about a patient or a certain circumstance because we get along so well amongst us, it’s never an issue to turn and ask a ‘What would you do with this person? What would you do in this situation?’ I think that makes us unique. I know a lot of departments have a lot of doctors in them, but they don’t always get along so well. We are friends as well as colleagues. We trust each other closely, and trust each other’s opinions closely. So I think that makes us unique as far as a lot of other departments.

INTERVIEWER: What are the top reasons that someone should come to the Orthopedic Department at The Everett Clinic?

DR. SCHAAF: A couple of reasons. One is, again, our collegiality and our camaraderie, and our expertise lends itself to pretty much all orthopedic problems. There are very few things that we cannot handle within our department with our expertise.

Secondly, is when you get into the Orthopedic Department, not only are you seeing the Orthopedic Department, you’re also plugged into a big system. So, if you need a knee replacement, but you’ve had a history of heart problems, and you need a cardiologist to have the surgery done safely, we can send you to our cardiologist. If we see you, and figure that you don’t need surgery, but you may be better served with a rheumatologist, or a physical medicine rehabilitation doctor, we have all that readily available. We have close relationships with them. And with our electronic medical record, getting information back and forth on your situation is seamless. We don’t have to wait for a fax report, we don’t have to make an extra phone call. I could look it up at midnight if I wanted to on the computer. That’s unique to The Everett Clinic. So, if you come to The Everett Clinic Orthopedic Department, not only will you have good expertise to cover pretty much anything you need, but you also can get other specialty care if needed.

INTERVIEWER: What are the qualifications you look for when you bring a new physician to the Orthopedics Department?

DR. SCHAAF: The most important qualifications we look for when bringing a new physician to this department is expertise and excellent training. The Everett Clinic is known in the area as hiring only stars. We want the best.

That’s only one piece of it. Not only do they have to be well-trained, but they also have to fit well interpersonally within the department. It’s more than just having this degree or this pedigree, we want someone who fits in interpersonally. We’re a very close-knit group to begin with. So, they have to have those interpersonal skills as well as the pedigree for them to get hired in our department.

INTERVIEWER: Is there anything we haven’t covered?

DR. SCHAAF: Our department uses physician’s assistants in a way that’s unique to other areas. Our PA’s are all orthopedically trained, and have a lot of experience.
The least experience out of or PA’s now is five years, and some of them have ten or fifteen years of just orthopedics. So, if you have more of a simple injury, or something that doesn’t need surgery, you may see one of our physician’s assistants. They are very capable of taking care of these problems, and have the ear of the surgeon readily. So, you’re going to get excellent care from every level when you are here.

Read more about Dr. Scott Schaaf, The Everett Clinic

When choosing a doctor, you’re also choosing a medical facility, and that medical facility’s systems, values and culture. You’re choosing their history and reputation – not a decision to be taken lightly. The Everett Clinic recognizes this, and wants you to be sure that you find the right fit for you and your health care.

The Everett Clinic strives to provide care that is always centered around respecting patients, and doing what’s right for them no matter what. This care philosophy has allowed the Everett Clinic to attract the best physicians from around the country, earning both local and national recognition.

We are acquainted with the numerous professions which exist in the medical field such as doctors, nurses, consultants and medical assistants. It is seen that more and more folks are showing interest to enter the medical field as they consider it more as a service. The task of specialists does not need advanced level of coaching like doctors. If you are wishing to work in the labs, then you can select the career of a phlebotomist. They're the folks who are in command of the lab and its functioning and by doing this they take some load of the shoulders of the doctors and nurses. Their main function is pertaining to the withdrawal of blood from the patients. The process of phlebotomy can be considered as the process of making cuts in human veins.

The numbers of people that are coming forward to donate their blood are augmenting every year.
Doctors and nurses would have other responsibilities and may not find to have a tendency to this need. So this responsibility lives with the phlebotomist
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Their main purpose is the diffusion of blood either for analysis or for diffusion. Be it for any purpose, it's a process that needs to be done with extreme carefulness and precision. The veins are the part of the body thru which the blood flows. They play a vital and critical part in the working of the body. So while making incisions in them extra care must be given, because any mistakes can be fatal to the lives of the patients. The job of this expert is to make the withdrawal of the blood in a safe and sanitary demeanour.

There is not just the withdrawal of the blood, there are several other responsibilities incorporated in their job profile. Phlebotomist
must clearly and smartly label the sample and document them. The collection of blood and the safety of the samples and the records are one of the primary objectives of this lab expert. There are some procedures that they have to follow to keep the place clean. These labs should be clean and free from diseases. Special care must be taken to make certain that like latex or vinyl gloves, robes, and special shoes, facial masks, head caps for example. They need to follow these safety standards exactly to guarantee their own safety as well the patient’s.

Coming to the tools and apparatus employed by these folk, they need to be sterilized. They need to be handles with special care as they require extremely special and careful handling. Some of the equipment can't be used again so correct disposal methods have to be known to this specialist. They need to work with different sorts of patients everyday from small children to elderly folk.

A few of the people can be scared of needles or they can be uncomfortable with the whole concept. Special approach need to be taken with these kinds of people. Although proper coaching is given to them, efficient direct communication with the patient and making the method simpler is only possible thru experience.

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