Breast Cancer Health

Biography

Elizabeth L. Neuger, MD joined The Everett Clinic in 1999. She received her medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine in 1993. She completed her residency at the University of Washington and earned a Fellowship at the Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, Australia. Dr. Neuger has a special interest in pediatric and general surgery. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her family and attending Everett Silvertips games. In this interview, Dr. Neuger addresses surgery, The Everett Clinic, and her medical training.

Interview with Dr. Elizabeth L. Neuger, MD, The Everett Clinic

INTERVIEWER: Tell me about how you actually became surgeon and a little bit about your background and your training.

DR. NEUGER: I actually wanted to be a vet and I went to Cornell University undergrad because they have a great vet school. And I went there and I took all three small animal vet classes you could take as an undergraduate, and realized that I didn't particularly care for large animals, and so that would not be the best, suitable match for me. So, at that point in time, I considered studying biology and fell in love with medicine. It was, you know, much better.

INTERVIEWER: So tell me a little more about your training and the kind of procedures that you do here.

DR. NEUGER: I went to undergrad at Cornell, and I went to medical school at Boston University, and from Boston University, I actually came to the University of Washington for residency. I came out here, actually, during med school to do a rotation to see how I liked it, and just had a fantastic time at Harborview. So, of course, after having a fantastic time, I wanted to come out here. Got fantastic training at the University of Washington; it's one of the top ten surgical residency programs in the country. I fell in love with the area, and I didn't want to leave. A job opened up with Everett and I've been here ever since. So, I've been here the second longest of all the general surgeons. I'm the longest surviving surgeon at the Everett Clinic.

My practice is basically general surgery. I do a large amount of breast in my practice. I'm the only female in town who does breast surgery. So, for that reason, a lot of females come to me. And, I was actually thinking this morning that I'm seeing approximately 250 to 400 breast patients a year. That's in the office, not breast procedures. We treat various types of breast diseases.

On top of that, I want to be able to treat a lot of my patients other diseases: hernias, gall bladders. Two of us in the department do pediatric surgery: myself and Dr. Graves. We do that because you're really good at what you do a lot of. There's not enough pediatric surgery for all of us to be good at it. So, we've narrowed it down to the two of us.

INTERVIEWER: So, you could have decided to go anywhere, right?

DR. NEUGER: Yes.

INTERVIEWER: But you choose The Everett Clinic… Why?

DR. NEUGER: Well, you know, when I was a resident, like I said, we went to Wenatchee, and Wenatchee has a very similar clinic. And the one thing I really enjoyed about that is the camaraderie. Everybody's a team. You're not out there by yourself, it's a group effort.

Our computer system, that we currently have, is fantastic. I mean, I can see any Everett Clinic doctor's note, at my fingertips immediately. We don't look around for charts… So, I like being able to treat the whole patient, even though I personally can't treat every medical disease.

INTERVIEWER: So, you could assure your patients that they have the best care, the latest care, the latest technologies… How would you state that in your own words?

DR. NEUGER: I see two different types of patients. I see the breast patients and I can say beyond a reasonable doubt that the care we give in Everett for breast cancer patients is equal to any other place. I have a number of patients who go down to Seattle for second opinions and I would say the majority of them come back and get their treatment here.

As far as the other general surgical treatments that I take care of: the gall bladder patients who need their gall bladder out, the hernia patients, the pediatric patients who have hernias, pediatric patients also have some lumps and bumps that need to be removed… Our communication ability, between the primary care doctors here at The Everett Clinic, our surgery centers, our operating rooms… they're just fantastic. I've never heard a patient complain about our outpatient surgery center, ever. Well, one complaint about the parking once. But that was about it.

INTERVIEWER: Based on everything we've talked about, based on where you are right now in your career, what are you the most proud of?

DR. NEUGER: I would say I'm the most proud of our department… In the general surgical department, when I first came, there were three of us… we were very stressed out, we were just trying to put out fires. We didn't have any ability at the time to anticipate problems, we were simply trying to plug the hole of the dam that was breaking… And, over the dozen or so years that I've been here, our department has grown, we have specialists, we have niches that are filled, all the holes are plugged. And now instead of trying to put out fires, or block the dam, we're actually building construction on the other side, and making it a world class, excellent general surgical department.

INTERVIEWER: Is there anything you'd like to say about specific procedures you do, like breast cancer or gall bladder surgery?

DR. NEUGER: I would say that we see a number of patients, as a surgeon, but not everybody needs surgery. So, some patients come in thinking that we are going to fix them with surgery and what they need to realize when they come for a consult is that we're going to evaluate them and really consider: "Am I able to fix them with surgery?" Because sometimes the answer is no. Some patients will be upset about that. But, really, if I'm not going to do you benefit, I'm not going to do surgery just to get paid.

The Everett Clinic is Snohomish County's premier health care provider, with over 275 physicians. Specialty-trained physicians at the Everett Clinic practice in over 40 areas of expertise. Many are fellowship trained in advanced disciplines such as laparoscopic surgery, urological oncology, total joint replacement and more.

The Everett Clinic has many locations throughout Snohomish County, including Starwood, Marysville, Lake Stevens, Mill Creek and, of course, Everett. The Everett Clinic has four pharmacies, an advanced imagining center (offering MRI, CT, ultrasound and more), two outpatient surgery centers, vision and hearing aid centers and much more.