Stephen Cruz
Physician
Affinity Health System, Appleton
About Me
My name is Stephen Cruz and I am an urgent care physician for the Affinity Medical Group in Oshkosh and in Appleton. As a child we moved around a lot since my dad was in the Navy, but when he retired we settled down in a Northern suburb of Chicago called Northbrook. There I attended middle school and high school. I then attended the University of Illinois and graduated with a major in biology.
I received a scholarship from the Navy to attend Loyola Medical School in Chicago, and stayed in the Navy for 8.5 years. During that time I finished training to become a Family Physician. I also served as a Flight Surgeon for the Marines and had the opportunity to care for Marines and their families and even got a chance to fly helicopters and planes as part of my training. About 5-6 years ago we decided to leave the Navy and move to Wisconsin. I presently live in Appleton with my wife Lisa and my three sons Manny, Ethan and Jack.
Why this Profession?
When I originally started my training to become a physician I wanted to be a cardiologist. When I spent my time with the Navy and the Marines I came to the realization that I enjoyed taking care of many different kinds of patients. As a Family Physician I had the opportunity to take care of everyone. I got to deliver babies, perform minor surgeries, take care of kids and handle a wide spectrum of medical problems. About a year ago I made the switch to become an Urgent Care Physician. This type of doctor works in the walk-in clinic setting. It is still the same patient population but the pace is quicker and the patients tend to be sicker.
As a doctor I get to spend a lot of time solving problems and coming up with treatment plans that will make a positive impact on someone's life. As a doctor I also spend quite a bit of time educating patients about smart choices that they can make with their lives.
True stories
The most impressive and scary patients I see are those with depression having thoughts of suicide brought on by some sort of stressor. For these individuals life is only about this one stressor and the only way out is to take his or her own life. They become so blinded by grief that they can't get themselves to see that there is a whole world out there beyond their immediate vicinity. In a lot of cases if they back away and get some distance they may be able to see that what they were stressed about wasn't as imposing as it had originally appeared. I believe in God. I believe that He has a plan for all of us. For me this is a very comforting thought. If you can embrace this thought you can continue to move forward with the belief that eventually everything will work out.
Getting through school
The largest challenge to medical training is the volume of constantly changing material and the long hours of work and years of dedication. To become a physician you need to graduate high school and get into college. Once past college you need to get accepted into a medical school.
At Loyola the first two years of medical school were spent in the classroom and the last two years were spent in 2-6 week rotations with various medical specialties each of which are graded for performance on the floor taking care of patients followed by a written test after many of the rotations. Toward the end of your fourth year of medical school it was time to participate in the “match." This is the process by which students are accepted into a residency program. Depending on what type of specialty is chosen, the residency could last anywhere from 3-6 years and even longer if a decision is made to subspecialize further. As you can see, it is a long road to become a doctor.
Some advice
Make sure you have a strong science and math background if you want to become a physician!
The Future
There will always be a need for doctors. I am unsure of the trends for physician pay in the future. My goal is to continue to be an Urgent care physician in the Fox Valley until I am ready to retire. I have found a community and a career that I truly enjoy.
Last Thoughts
Achieving a career in medicine is very rewarding. But as outlined above it can be a long road. Perseverance is the key. For every person out there who supports you there may be 10-20 people who will tell you that you can't do it. The 10-20 'nay sayers' are wrong! You don't have to be the best and brightest but you do have to be willing to work long and hard. In order to do that you have to be doing it because you love it and believe in what you are doing. One of my favorite sayings is that success is a journey, not a destination. Even though the training was long and hard, I enjoyed the process because everything was new and exciting.