Louisville Medicine Volume 70, Issue 12 | Page 34

( continued from page 31 ) practitioners . Eventually , one last merger with the University of Louisville Division of Neonatology resulted in one large , unified neonatal practice covering the entire Louisville metropolitan area .
“ A lot of the early success of our practice was not only because we had a very equitable structure , but because we also had a lot of humility . There was a clear understanding that what we do now in neonatal medicine was going to be changing rapidly within a generation , if not sooner . It ’ s happened more than once in my 31 years of being a doctor ; things that were dogma are now considered heresy , and vice versa . I think you ’ ve got to constantly be challenging conventional wisdom and constantly trying to improve care . You can ’ t stay static , you have to be progressive . You either lead the changes or you get left behind .”
Three years ago , Dr . Cohen decided to become a nocturnist , only working nights to make room for the newer neonatologists that needed to get the critical experience that only day shift rounding can provide . Every third night he comes in for a 16-hour shift and repeats that for two or three weeks at a time .
“ I ’ m a big proponent of making sure that you ’ re really efficient . Every day you should have 90 minutes or more to sit back and think about the big picture . How do I get this patient better ? How do I get this kid out of trouble ? How do I reverse the trend we ’ re in ? You can only do that if you can sit there with a white board or a piece of paper or even just staring at the medical record , thinking about what path you can take forward with the patient . I ’ ve been known through the years as someone who can find that new path forward or see something that others might have overlooked - how to ‘ fix ’ a baby . Believe me , it doesn ’ t always work , but to have novel ideas , you have to give yourself time to think .”
In looking at those big picture ideas , a large part comes from advice from the past Director of Pediatric Emergency Medicine in Cincinnati , Dr . Rich Ruddy , who shared a piece of wisdom with him that stuck , “ Every good division [ or practice ] needs someone who has a mental blueprint of the way ‘ things should be .’” Dr . Cohen tries to emulate this in his work , by setting an example and sharing the way he thinks both clinical neonatology and the administration of a neonatal practice should “ be ”.
While he previously held many administrative roles , he has stepped back from those positions . These days , his focus is on patient care and providing advice and problem-solving techniques to his colleagues .
“ I try to be somewhat of a ‘ baby whisperer ’ in neonatology . I ’ m known for out of the box solutions and people will come to me about how a patient-care problem can be approached or about the logistics of running a practice . Sometimes those solutions work , sometimes they don ’ t . But as I am told , ‘ Dr . Cohen never forgets anything , until he does ,’” he laughed .
While stepping back , he also was able to step forward into what he originally wanted to do , academics , teaching and giving oversight to the pediatric resident electives at Norton Women ’ s and Children ’ s Hospital . Most recently , he and his brother Jonathan are in the beginning stages of research on how artificial intelligence and game theory can be used to solve clinical problems in neonatal intensive care .
“ In my own way , I ’ m trying to bring in a different influence on the academic world , challenging the conventional wisdom with new approaches and new ideas , while trying to contribute to a future vision of the way “ things might be ’”.
One thing that you can ’ t necessarily teach , although he hopes to instill in those around him , is how to care for people .
“ I try to get to know my patients outside of medicine . I can usually find some kind of common connection with almost every parent , besides just their baby . There ’ s a good percentage of the population that doesn ’ t even know the NICU exists before they find themselves in one . That ’ s very intimidating , so if I can remind them that our providers are ‘ regular ’ people , just like them , it can instill a level of trust for when tough decisions must be made .”
One of those levels of connection is that he has three kids of his own with his wife , Marcie .
He remembered the first time he saw her when he was 17 , telling
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