USA Health names new director for Stanton Road Clinic
“As director of the Stanton Road Clinic, my goal is to make the ambulatory experience for residents one that encourages learning and fosters continued interest in the primary care field of internal medicine,” said Luke Mueller, D.O.
By Michelle Ryan
mryan@health.southalabama.edu
Luke Mueller, D.O., flourished in the collaborative teaching and learning environment of an academic health system as a resident at USA Health so much that he is continuing his career as the new director of the Stanton Road Clinic (SRC).
“I chose to participate in an academic health system after realizing how much I enjoy teaching and working with learners during my three years of residency at USA Health,” he said. “After training, I wanted to continue my career here and help other residents and medical students make the most of their medical training.”
Stanton Road Clinic, located next to University Hospital, serves as a teaching facility and outpatient care site for numerous clinical departments, including primary care, surgery, trauma, burn/wound care and interventional radiology.
“As director of SRC, my goal is to make the ambulatory experience for residents one that encourages learning and fosters continued interest in the primary care field of internal medicine,” said Mueller, who is also an assistant professor of internal medicine in the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine.
He earned a medical degree from the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine in Auburn, then completed his residency in internal medicine at USA Health. During an additional year after his last year of training, he served as chief resident and a clinical instructor for internal medicine. Mueller credits these roles for his leadership skills and experience in understanding how an academic health system functions.
“I was drawn to osteopathic medicine because of its focus on treating the patient as a whole rather than as a disease process,” he said. “Osteopathic medicine looks at all aspects of a person's lifestyle and incorporates these into a comprehensive treatment plan including both medications as well as lifestyle changes.”
That background prepares Mueller well for leading the clinic that operates as a patient-centered medical home, a team-based healthcare delivery model focused on treating the whole person. The designation allows it to provide more comprehensive services that often are not found in traditional primary care practices, such as an on-site laboratory, counseling, nutrition consultations, pharmacy resources, and social services assistance to help address complex concerns in a patient-centered manner.
Mueller said he is currently training to use ultrasound in the ambulatory setting to provide bedside ultrasound for the primary care clinic’s patients.
During his training, Mueller devoted his time to others through mission trips to Guatemala and El Salvador, and providing relief work in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael at Mexico Beach, Florida in 2018.
As a resident at USA Health, he helped build the Medicine and Horsemanship Seminar, a hands-on workshop which pairs resident physicians with horses to help increase their awareness of nonverbal communication and apply those lessons in working with patients.
“We work with horses and teach residents how to recognize cues from the horse. This reinforces the importance of non-verbal cues that patients can exhibit when visiting their physician,” he said. “By picking up on these it can strengthen the patient-physician relationship by helping build trust and compassion.”
In addition to his duties at Stanton Road Clinic, Mueller is accepting new patients at Mastin Internal Medicine. Call 251-470-5890 to make an appointment.
