Zachary Baeseman, MD, Fulfills Dream of Being Small-Town Doctor
Zachary Baeseman, MD, of ThedaCare Physicians-Waupaca grew up in a rural Wisconsin town west of Wausau. “I had a dream of being a country doctor,” he said.
He also did not want to leave Wisconsin, which is home to family and feeds his love of outdoors activities. He went to St. Norbert College in Green Bay and later the University of Wisconsin. He spent three years in Appleton with the family medicine residency program. He had to venture out of Wisconsin to complete a fellowship in advanced obstetrics and faculty development at Swedish Family Medicine in Seattle. When the time came, he wanted to return to his roots so he sought practices in Wisconsin.
“It was really important for me, as I was going through medical school and residency, to practice full-scope family medicine,” said Dr. Baeseman. “I thought Waupaca was an excellent community to both raise a family as well as have that type of practice. I’m very comfortable in this small-town environment.”
The last few months have been rewarding and challenging, he said. “I really like the scope of practice, the depth of the practice and the wide variety of patients I see every day,” he said, noting the care a rural provider has to provide is much different than in an urban environment. “You see a lot of patients with a lot of serious and chronic medical needs.”
Because of the variety of those needs, Dr. Baeseman has to serve many different roles. “As a physician, I am many different things to different people,” she said. “That’s one of the best parts of the job. I try to be what my patients need at that time. I try to meet people where they are and either advocate for their health issues and try my best to both empower them and help them achieve their health goals.”
Dr. Baeseman said he has been well received by the community. “People get the vibe from me that I am a small-town guy and feel comfortable with me,” he said. “Ultimately, I think I am really a good match for this practice as well so I feel very fortunate that way, both skill and personality wise.”
Dr. Baeseman is married and has a 4-month old child and a bird dog and enjoys choral singing, camping, hunting and backpacking. He also participates in the American Birkebeiner cross-country ski marathon. “I do that partially because it’s fun but partially to lead by example that you have to get active in the winter,” said Dr. Baeseman.
ThedaCare™ is a community health system consisting of seven hospitals: Appleton Medical Center, Theda Clark Medical Center, ThedaCare Medical Center-New London, Shawano Medical Center, Berlin Memorial Hospital, Wild Rose Community Memorial Hospital and Riverside Medical Center in Waupaca. ThedaCare also includes ThedaCare Physicians, ThedaCare Behavioral Health, ThedaCare At Work, ThedaCare at Home, and Peabody Heritage community. ThedaCare is one of the largest employers in Northeast Wisconsin with more than 6,800 employees. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
