Getting to Know a BHC Doctor

Michael James Hauan, MD, MPH, MA, MTS

Emergency Department

I worked my first shift at Boone Hospital’s Emergency Department in December 2003. Since then, my roles have included attending physician in the ER, IRB medical director, Ethics Committee chair, Emergency Department Chief and Facility Medical Director, EMS Medical Director, and I am currently Chief of Staff for Boone Health’s Medical Staff. I am also board-certified in Family Medicine.

My immediate family includes wife, Zorina – married 24 years and counting –and two sons, Marcus, in sophomore year at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Oh. and Kaden, in senior year at Columbia Independent School and heading to Carleton College in Northfield, Mn. next fall.

I took my first breath in 1959, born of largely Norwegian stock in Minnesota. Despite this, lutefisk, the piece of cod which defies all understanding, simply won’t go down. My education went down better, though, entirely thanks to the encouragement of family and the marvelous generosity of others. Shattuck School in Faribault, Mn. offered secondary school college prep. Yale College in New Haven, Ct. offered liberal arts education and a major in the history of ideas. Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Ma. enabled better understanding of compelling religious issues first encountered at home. Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons and School of Public Health in New York offered initiation in the science and study of health and medicine. An internship in General Surgery and Residency in Family Practice at Montefiore Medical Center in New York helped me hone skills and methods into actual practice. A few years later, a fellowship in Medical Informatics again at Columbia College offered a working education in the uses of information technology in health care.

Why did you get into the health care field?

Many people start their way toward a health care career by taking a pre-med track in college. But only after college, several months of wandering, and two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Botswana from 1982 to 84 did any such path make sense. Training in medicine then seemed a reasonable way to carry on a family tradition of service while cultivating personal interests in science, problem-solving, and exploration. People need doctors everywhere, but they also need good mechanics.

What interested you in your particular specialty?

Caring for people, solving interesting medical problems, constant learning, and avoiding boredom.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

To see how, whatever impediments, flaws, fatigue, or trouble arises, we still manage to do our best to care for each other.

What is the most challenging aspect of your job?

Dealing with the uncertain and unexpected. But that makes it most interesting, too.

What do you see changing in health care in the next 5 to 10 years?

What won’t? One hopes we won’t abandon our commitment to each other’s wellbeing. To pick just three: The tools of care — drugs, instruments, information — will become more specialized, effective, complicated, and expensive. Physicians will learn what other employees already know, how it feels to be an exchangeable commodity. Dr. ChatGPT will replace Dr. Google and will, in turn, get replaced as well.

What advice would you give someone looking to become a doctor?

Remain devoted to your patients and to providing them the best care you can. Remain devoted to your colleagues in this endeavor.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

Family and friends, ham radio and electronics, reading, travel, astronomy, woodworking, kayaking, biking … oh look, a squirrel!.

What advice would you give to someone who is going to be a patient in a hospital for a period of time?

This is more a request than advice — Boone exists to care for you, but with its size and complexity, and with the stress and vulnerability that often goes along with the need for care here, your voice might seem small and insignificant. It’s not. We need your perspective, your advice, your guidance, and your insight so we can do our job as best we can. Please do this for us as we strive to do our best for you.