18-Inside the Future of Healthcare in West Texas-Dr. Brian Schroeder on Leadership, Growth & The Permian

Speaker A: Welcome to the Permian Strategic Partnership Podcast. I'm your host, Christa Escamilla. Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the Permian Strategic Partnership Podcast. I'm so grateful that you're spending some time with us here today. This is a place where we highlight the leaders, the organizations, and the ideas that are working together to build a stronger Permian Basin and a stronger future for the Permian Basin. So we couldn't be happier that you're here spending some time with us today. Today. We have a very special guest with us today. I cannot wait to hear his story, because I've just enjoyed the. The banter on the way in as he arrived. And so I can't wait for you to get to meet Dr. Brian D. Schroeder. He is the interim regional dean for the Permian Basin at Texas Tech University Health Science Center School of Medicine. That's his, uh, extended title, but he's got some other really cool titles as well. Husband, family, father, and retired colonel from the Air Force. And so we cannot wait to dive, uh, into more of his story. Thank you for being with us today, and thank you for your service.

Speaker B: Happy to be here. Um, it is an honor to be able to take care of America's heroes. I was able to take care of, uh, a number of the original Tuskegee Airmen as part of my. My duties. Took care. I was a flight surgeon, taking care of pilots and. And, uh, the air crew for bombers and fighter pilots. Uh, it's been a great run, but it's time to move on.

Speaker A: That is incredible. Well, and that is a podcast all in itself right there. But first, I want to know, how did you get to the Permian Basin and tell us a little bit about your new role that you're in.

Speaker B: Uh, I went to my boss, uh, the dean of the School of Medicine, and I, uh, was feeling a little bit vanilla, a little bored. Um, I said, you know, I'm feeling like I need a bit of a challenge. And so I signed up to go back to grad school. And he looked at me and said, for what? And I said, well, I think I'd like to go to seminary. And he said, excuse me, what? Um, that's not a skill that I need right now. And I said some very dangerous words. I said, well, what do you need right now? And he said, I need you to, uh, go down to, uh, the Permian Basin to take care of an opening that's been created. My predecessor, Dr. Tim Timothy Benton, um, moved from Texas Tech over to, um, um, Medical Center Hospital, mch in Odessa, creating an opportunity for me to move down here. And I've been here for about 10, uh, months, um, serving in this interim role and uh, had my job interview yesterday for the official role.

Speaker A: Well, good luck.

Speaker B: Thank you. Hopefully that turns out well for me. Um, but we, um. Um, I was, I come in to help take over, stabilize a few things and uh, really given the challenge to grow our, uh, footprint here in the Permian basin.

Speaker A: Fantastic. Well, welcome to the basin. Thank you. It's an incredible place. I'm sure you've already, um, found out the people here are what makes West Texas so incredible. And speaking of, you know Dr. Timothy Benton. I've interviewed him before and uh, hopefully you'll get to meet him and work with him a little bit. He's an incredible doctor as well, so

Speaker B: he's truly a gentleman and really a fine doctor. Well, good.

Speaker A: Well, good luck and I hope that you get the full time job. Sounds like you're on your way, but we're so glad you're here. Let's talk about healthcare and just really, um, you come with a different set of eyes, right? Because you have been in the role as a doctor, you've been in the service, uh, tell us how you feel. Those experiences are going to really help bring all that experience and bring us to a better future here in the Permian Basin.

Speaker B: When it comes to healthcare, uh, yeah, I'm fortunate to have had a very circuitous route, if nothing else to this path, uh, having been a physician. Before that I was a nurse. Uh, before that I was an emt. Before that I was a musician. But I wasn't really any good, so I had to find a real job. And so, um, all of that, uh, has sort of brought me to this point. For the last, uh, probably 20 years of my career, I worked, um, clinically active for about 15 years and then for 20 years I have been on the leadership side and have been a chief medical officer for a couple of different health systems. I directed a couple of large, uh, physician groups. And all of that has sort of brought me to, given me this odd kind of skill set to help, uh, lead, uh, physicians and other team members, uh, to help me, uh, uh, to prepare me for this gig here. Um, and I think that with my time, uh, in the C suite of the hospital, I've got a rapport with the hospital leadership to be able to sort of speak their language, uh, having been a clinical physician for a number of years, being able to help talk to the docs about their perspective and represent that, um, as well as having pretty much every other job in healthcare, uh, to be able to lead teams of different specialties, uh, throughout.

Speaker A: And you're so good at all of those roles, and I feel like that experience will definitely benefit the Permian Basin. Looking back at a snapshot, you've only been here a year. I would love to hear what you think are our strengths and then some of our challenges. Yeah.

Speaker B: Uh, so one of the strengths that we have in this community, I think, um, both hospital, uh, systems are very well situated to be able to provide care for the region. I'm fortunate enough to have a working relationship with both hospital CEOs and spend a fair amount of time with both of them. And, uh, I'm really proud to have a, uh, role in helping them expand their networks and their reach as well. Um, without a doubt, you mentioned this. Uh, it is the people, uh, down here. Um, I happen to be with the Air Force. I have to tell a quick story. I was in England, uh, in 2018, uh, with a bomber group. And we were there in Fairford, England, at a RAF base there, about an hour outside of London. And I was sitting on a picnic, uh, table, uh, enjoying a Guinness with, uh, one of the locals. And all he knew about me was, uh, I was from the States. And so he said, so, are you with the Plains? I said, yes, I am, as a matter of fact. And, uh, we got talking about. Is this your first time in England? Yes, it is. How about you? You've been to the States? And he said, oh, I've been to the States many times. I said, really? Where? Where have you been? He goes, well, I don't like to go to, you know, New York and la. Everybody goes there. I like to go to real America. I said, really? Where's your favorite place in all of the states? Post Texas.

Speaker A: Are you kidding me?

Speaker B: That's what I said. What? Post Texas? Uh, how do you know Post Texas? I drive through Post every month from. From Lubbock down to, uh, the base down at Dyess. And, uh, he said, well, I have some friends who teach in West Texas. I said, at Texas Tech? He said, yeah, as a matter of fact. And, um, he said, I was out visiting them, and I'm out driving around. They're teaching, and I find myself looking at a map, and I thought, oh, let's go look at this little town of Post. And he's driving around and thinks, all right, where am I going to go next? And he pulls off to the side of the road. Summer. It's Hot outside. He's looking at this map when all of a sudden, there's a. On his window. And he's looking up, somewhat surprised, and thinks he's done something wrong. And he rolls down the window. And who rolls down their window?

Speaker A: People our age.

Speaker B: So he rolls down the window, and he looks at him. Can I help you? And they're like, are you okay? And he said, yeah, why? And with his accent, they recognized that he was from Britain. And they just. Well, we just wanted to pull aside to make sure that you're all right. Anybody sitting by the side of the road here could be in distress. And right there, he recognized something inherent that the rest of us already know, is that the people in West Texas, they're not just friendly, they're helpful. They are looking out for one another. And I think it's probably like living on an island where we all have to rely on one another. And so that's. To me, that is what makes this part of Texas special are the people who are actually looking out for one another.

Speaker A: I couldn't agree more. And in healthcare, that's what you do. You're looking out for people. And you mentioned our two amazing CEOs of our hospitals, and we really do. I love how you. The three of y' all are working together, and many others. I know there's. There's so many others. Um, tell us about that collaboration. What does that look like? Why is it so important that Texas Tech Health Science Centers works together with our other entities? And then we'll also talk PSP in just a minute, but tell us about that partnership.

Speaker B: So, uh, we have. We have multiple missions. Our first mission is to train young physicians, and we train medical students to become doctors. And once somebody becomes a physician, then we train them in their different specialties, doing residencies and fellowships. And so we need a place to do that. And we have our own clinics where we take care of patients of our own, but we need hospital partners to be able to allow our learners to, uh, work there and have those experiences as well. So we have this educational mission. We also have a service mission where our specialists are actively providing care that the hospitals, um, you know, can look to us to help provide. Where they don't have to hire those specialists themselves. We will do that work, um, for them. And so we have this, you know, this professional service as well as the educational service, and, uh, that allows us to be able to provide a greater reach, uh, for the community.

Speaker A: I love that. And I think growing our own is so important, and I feel like that is a mission as well, is to, to grow our own and keep them here. Right, Right. So let's talk workforce because as we know, we've, we've talked healthcare in the past, but that is definitely a challenge. Um, if you were given a 22nd spiel right now, only been here a year, what would you say to someone that is, you know, going, going to take that next step in their career to convince them to come to West Texas?

Speaker B: That there is, um, no greater need and there is no greater desire on the part of a community to have somebody come and practice here, uh, that we uh, not only want to train, uh, physicians of tomorrow, we want to retain them as well. So come here, learn here and stay in practice here.

Speaker A: And the food is good too. Not sure if you've, we could get into food later, Dr. Schroeder, but uh, you know, there, there's, there's so many reasons to come, right?

Speaker B: Very much.

Speaker A: We have, we have the best people. The health care need is here. We need your skills, and I think that's important to point out. And the food is good, and food is very good. But you want to highlight, where are some of the needs right now that you're seeing, that you go, oh, hey, if you're in, if this is your specialty, we could use you. So where are those needs?

Speaker B: There is no medical specialty that is over represented in this community.

Speaker A: Good point.

Speaker B: And so, um, uh, if I, pretty much any specialty that I ran into, I would say, let me see what I can do to find a place for them. Um, each time that I meet with my hospital CEOs and last week I was talking to the board at um, at MCH and Mr. Tippen said, hey, um, what about urology? And um, have you ever thought about recruiting some urologists here? And uh, down the line, every single male member of the board, like, yes, we need a urologist here. It's hard to get into one. And so that's my next, uh, um, adventure is to try to see what can I do to put together, um, a business case for, ah, the urologist, uh, or urology practice. How many can I recruit here?

Speaker A: I think that would be fantastic because just being a community member here over almost 30 years, I hear that quite frequently. So. Good. I'm so excited you're hitting that because I think that is, um, something that needs to be addressed. I know. We're also excited about the behavioral health center that is being built, which was another need in healthcare. Um, collaboration is key here in West Texas. Tell us a Little bit about your collaboration with psp. And I know I, and I understand you're only just a less than a year in, but I know you have met the amazing people at PSP and you're seeing the ah, great strides they're making in health care.

Speaker B: I've never worked with a group that has been more invested in my personal success as uh, the folks uh, in the office at psp, um, everyone uh, has been highly invested in making certain that we as an organization are successful. But my own personal success in this role, uh, they've helped me make connections with people as well as um, given me the opportunity to present to their board and to be able to state the case for why we need some of the support that we do. Um, I've been the beneficiary of a ah, great group of folks investment um, in our programs. Um, when I first came here, one of the first things that the President, Dr. Uh Rice Spearman had told me, who's from this area, uh, said they need a pediatrics residency program and uh, uh, me being naive in the role, sure that's not gonna be hard, is it? Uh, so we uh, I embarked on the, on the process of putting together a case for uh, building a pediatrics residency. And so with the help of PSP and our friends at the Scarborough foundation, um, together, uh, they gave me almost 8, 8 million dollars uh to be able to um, put together the resources to the um, specialists and sub specialists that I need to be able to train the next generation of pediatricians. Um, we're making an investment of about the same amount of money and um, so together the three of us, we have the resources to recruit three or four general pediatricians and a handful of pediatric subspecialists. And between those we'll be able to have a patient population broad enough to be able to uh, tell our accrediting bodies. Yes. Come take a look at our program. Look at what we're doing here. We think that we have the uh, portfolio to be able to train pediatricians. We want to be recruiting uh, general pediatricians here in 2026, specialty pediatricians in 27 and then start our residency uh in 2028. Start with four residents a year, it's a three year program and hopefully graduate them in the summer of 31, the first class, hopefully retain them and then retain them as well. Uh, our chair of uh, pediatrics, Dr. Sheridan is already um, um making connections with our medical students. Uh, uh, next Friday on the 20th, they have their match day. Where they find, where they do their Residency. She's already going to approach a few of them when they match into pediatrics. All right, here's my phone number. Call me. Uh, we'll be in touch. Um, and so she's already trying to put a few of them in a headlock to be able to, um, retain them, to bring them back after they do their residency elsewhere, to bring them back to stay here in the Permian Basin.

Speaker A: I love that. And that is just one of the many examples of how PSP collaborates with so many entities in our area to make our community better and stronger.

Speaker B: Their investment in both the education of medical students and in the workforce development for developing pediatricians, uh, is incredibly supportive.

Speaker A: You work with the young people day in and day out. Um, tell us, how hopeful are you for the future generations in healthcare? And, um, and then I want to ask you, after that, the best piece of advice that you would give one of those youngsters that's going through the program. Um,

Speaker B: Being a doctor is a challenge, but there's, um, nothing, um, there's no good that comes out without it being a challenge. And so it is the most rewarding profession, uh, ever. Uh, I've had a lot of different jobs, but being a doc is what completes me. That is who I was meant to be. Um, and so even for folks who are thinking about going to medical school that have never given it too much thought, I would encourage them to think about it. Do, um, is long. It is tough, but it's not impossible. Um, all it requires is a little more tenacity than anything else. You don't have to be all that smart. You just have to be dedicated. And so that was a sort of misconception that I had. I don't think I'm smart enough to be a doctor. Yeah, I am.

Speaker A: And I have heard that before. A lot of people thought that way and became amazing doctors, but I'm not. Oh, no, no, I have heard you're not. No, I've heard that from staff students. They're like, oh, I'm not smart enough. I don't have the grades. I'm not good at math or whatever it may be. Um, but I was.

Speaker B: I was 28 when I decided to do this, and I. But going back to school at a junior college and picking up all the required courses, and I was in my mid-30s when I started medical school, and, um, never looked back. Uh, it's been an amazing opportunity or amazing ride. Um, and so for young people today, it's an amazing career. If you want to make a difference and who doesn't want to make a difference in this world. Um, it's a great way to do that. There's a great deal of personal reward when somebody pulls you aside and says to you, thank you for making a difference. Um, that's my. That's plug for the students.

Speaker A: Good advice. Let's talk about the future. You said right now you've got some great students. We hope to retain them. Um, how does healthcare look in the future? Is it changing? Are these students that are going through the programs, are they going to deal with different things than maybe you dealt with?

Speaker B: Yeah. Um, you know, I think the AI, that's the first thing I thought about. Right.

Speaker A: Me too. When I asked the question, I was

Speaker B: like, AI and I'm just sort of an AI neophyte at this point. I'm using it more out of a sense of curiosity or, um, more of a fun than anything else. But so we're just scratching the surface. I think that there's an opportunity for us to utilize, um, a tool like that to help us practice better. There is never going to be a point in time in which A.I. is going to replace your doctor. Um, but it's going to. I believe it's going to help your doctor do their job better. And uh, we look at studies, radiologists and reading X rays or mammograms or MRIs, and some of these are, uh, just very subtle changes, just shadows upon shadows. Having, um, millions of images in their background, as well as a physician with years of experience together, um, are more effective than either one interpretation alone. And so I believe that AI is going to be there to help improve the practice of medicine.

Speaker A: I love that. I think that's a good way of looking at it because it can improve your life with. When used by humans.

Speaker B: Right, right.

Speaker A: Yes. But I've heard that it has really definitely taken, um, uh, not taken over, but it is now taking. Replacing some jobs in healthcare. But to make your job a little easier. Right. And before the end result, which is the patient, because that's what it's about. It's about the care of the patient at the end of the day. Love that. Let's talk about, um, moving forward. Any big goals when you get this job full time? Right now you're interim, but any big goals that you have that, um, besides bringing the urologist, which I love that.

Speaker B: Well, that's, that's really sort of part of it right now. Um, the, the practice has been largely a primary care practice, internal medicine, pediatrics, family medicine, general surgery, psych, and ob, um, and so what I'd really like to be able to do is to expand that to include, um, a number of specialists so that, um, we are a large multi specialty practice in which, um, a local physician would say, gee, I'm not really sure what to do for you, Mrs. McGillicuddy. How about we send you over to the folks at Texas Tech. They've got the specialists there to help us figure out this diagnostic dilemma. And then we, um, you know, think wise things, and we, and we order, uh, esoteric tests, and then we send you back to, um, your primary care doctor with the answer. That would be my goal. I would like to develop the practice of choice, uh, for, for the region.

Speaker A: Fantastic. If you were gonna give a, uh, health tip today that you think with all your years of experience our listeners could benefit from. And this is just on a personal note, because I love learning from smart doctors. So what would that be? What would be that number one health tip, uh, that could really help us live a longer life or make us live, uh, a healthier life?

Speaker B: It would be if I probably be advice that I need to hear myself. It's probably. Eat more salad. Um, one who loves his enchiladas and barbecue.

Speaker A: Hey, you've come to the right place, though. From West Texas. We were talking about food. This is the hub of great Mexican food and barbecue. So add in a salad.

Speaker B: Add a salad. Um, it's stay active, stay busy. Um, if exercise came in a pill, people would be lined up around the block trying to get it. And so, um, you don't have to be, um, you don't have to be working out hours every day, but just get up and move around, stay active, stay busy. Uh, stay connected with people. Isolation is, um, a toxin in and of itself. And so, um, stay busy, stay active, stay connected.

Speaker A: I love that. Great advice. Okay, uh, fun fact about you that we would not know by reading your amazing bio.

Speaker B: I was hit by a bus when I was 5.

Speaker A: Oh, my goodness.

Speaker B: Well, it wasn't going very fast.

Speaker A: That's terrible though. Did you break any bones? Are you okay?

Speaker B: No, no, no. I was the bus. I would stop, I'd get off the bus. And the bus driver always said, you know, walk in front of the bus. I'm not gonna walk in front of the bus.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: Even at 5, I'm smart enough to know that. So I'd stand back and I'd wait for the bus to get go by. Well, one day I said, all right, fine, I. So I started walking in front of the bus. And he started up and it bumped me. And my mom is standing in the front doorway, her eyes this big. And so I was able to cross and I was hit about that.

Speaker A: Okay, good. So it was a little bump, but that is a good, fun fact. I will remember that one about you. That is great. Well, Dr. Sher, we first of all thank you for coming to West Texas. Whenever we can get someone that brings the experience that you have, uh, to come and pour into our community, it is, ah, definitely a gift. So thank you for sharing your gifts here. Is there anything that we haven't had a chance to ask you that you would love to share about whether it's your time here, what you're looking forward to here? If you have a question, um, anything

Speaker B: you want to share with us, uh, I have. I am the beneficiary of the hard work of number of people. I've been surrounded by an amazing team. I work for, uh, some terrific people, uh, up in Lubbock. Um, there is nobody that's got it better than I do.

Speaker A: I think that is amazing. You do have a great job. It is, it is a very, um, supported role, and I love that. And I feel like you will learn that, um, that's what we do here in West Texas. We support each other. We, uh, encourage each other and lift each other up. And so thank you for coming, being the recipient of that, and I know you're going to do the exact same for your students.

Speaker B: Do what I can.

Speaker A: Well, thank you for this time. I've enjoyed getting to know you better, and I wish, um, you the best of luck. We are, again, appreciative of your role and your partnership with psp because I believe that good things are going to happen under your leadership. Thank you. Um, and we just look forward to seeing you soar in this new role. So thank you for being here.

Speaker B: It's a treat.

Speaker A: Thank you for listening. We appreciate you. And of course, we encourage you to, uh, follow. Go back, listen to all the PSP podcasts. What we're doing is we're sharing the good news of the people of West Texas that are pouring back into West Texas through collaboration. And they are truly making our community better day in and day out for not just you, but for your family and for future generations. So, uh, remember, we're all in this together. And the future lies in the Permian. Thanks so much for joining us. You make it a great day. Thank you for listening to the Permian Strategic Partnership Podcast. For more information, go to permianpartnership. Org.