Patient Care First: Dr. Brad Baack on Community, Dermatology & Doing the Next Right Thing

In this episode of Thanks for Doing That, Dr. Baack shares his story of becoming a dermatologist, launching Altitude Dermatology, and choosing to lead with values in an increasingly corporatized medical landscape. We talk about what makes dermatology so dynamic, how skin health impacts self-confidence, and why patient relationships are still the heart of healthcare.

You’ll also hear about:

• The life-changing power of helping people feel good in their skin
• Why Altitude Dermatology keeps tech out of the exam room
• How his band Off Call became the live entertainment at my wedding (and why they still play for free!)
• The quiet leadership of delegation and trust
• How his faith has been an anchor during moments of uncertainty
• A meaningful shoutout to Feed My Starving Children, a local movement with a global impact

Brad reminds us that great care isn’t just about procedures or prescriptions—it’s about showing up for people with curiosity, skill, and heart.

As always, I end with a custom haiku, just for him.

Catch more of the story @thanks.for.doing.that.podcast!

Transcript

[00:00:00] Hey, there you are listening to Thanks for doing that, a podcast celebrating people and ideas that make this world a better. Place. I am Heather Winchell, your host and chief enthusiast, and I'm on a mission to bring you conversations that encourage, inspire and delight. So stay tuned for another episode where we explore the things we do, the reasons we do them, and why it matters.

Hello. Welcome back to the podcast. Today I am joined by Dr. Brad Baack, and I first met Dr. Baack when he hired me to work at the front desk of his local dermatology practice. I had recently moved back to the area in order to [00:01:00] be present for a family that I knew and loved that was walking through a cancer journey.

I will never forget the kindness that Dr. Baack and his team showed over the years that I worked in various parts of his clinic. And Dr. Baack has recently started a new Northern Colorado based practice altitude dermatology. And when I saw the billboard that Dr. Baack is back, I literally audibly made a sound of glee.

It is my pleasure to have him join me today to talk about his past and present care for our community. Also, fun fact, Dr. Baack and his band Off Call were the live entertainment at my wedding, which was super fun. I have many thanks to extend to him. So, Dr. Baack, welcome to the show. Let's, thank you very much, Heather.

Yeah, and let's start with some insight into what life looks like for you right now. Pretty busy. I really had no master plan here. Uh, it's just, uh, I was looking to move [00:02:00] north from my current job, uh, which has been great. Uc Health, I've been working for them for three years. Um, but it was in Firestone and Longmont.

I, I live in North Fort Collins, so the commute just became a bit much. And so, uh, at this point in my career, I decided, you know, I can. Move closer to home and, and then start my own thing in a small way. Well, about that time, uh, there were some other providers in the community who were not, uh, happy exactly where they were practicing.

And so they, uh, got ahold of me and a few months later we started Altitude Dermatology with five providers. Yeah. That's really wonderful. So now Altitude Dermatology is operating throughout Northern Colorado. You have five providers. Uh, that's really exciting. Yeah. And, uh, we're probably gonna add a sixth provider, um, later this summer.

And [00:03:00] a pathologist dermatopathologist who has expertise in just reading skin pathology. Oh, very nice. Yeah. And we have three locations, Fort Collins. It's officially Johnstown, but it's really more Loveland. It's right by Shield, sporting Goods, and then in Longmont. Yeah, and I, I think I can speak for the greater community that there is something just really refreshing about having a local based practice in a time where a lot of medical has been kind of absorbed into larger organizations that don't feel as personal or personable.

You know, I agree. And that's kind of our, one of our mission statements is, you know, the, the, uh, the non-corporate approach. Yeah. Patient care and, uh, all of our employees, uh, everybody's really geared towards the patient first, which is what I was trained to [00:04:00] do. Yeah. Well, speaking of your training, I would love to hear a bit about your journey to becoming a dermatologist.

Did you always know you wanted to be in the medical profession and why? Skin, you know, I, when I was growing up, I'm, I was always, uh, fairly proficient at math science, and so I always had a leaning towards that and my brother ahead of me, uh, four years, uh, went into medical school and became a physician as well.

So I, I almost felt destined to it. Hmm. But as I went further along the path, I, I knew this is what I wanted to do. Not necessarily what field within medicine, but medicine really, uh, attracted me, and it still does. I still think it's an amazing profession despite all the regulations and rules. But, so I wasn't one of these.

Students who just loved every field of medicine. You know, I, there were certain things, I actually went into medical school thinking I might [00:05:00] be involved somehow in sports medicine because I really loved sports. But orthopedics was just, I. It wasn't for me, but as I did with different rotations, uh, dermatology really attracted me because it's so broad.

It's medical dermatology, there's surgical dermatology and there's pathology, all age groups. So it's really attractive to me in that, the broadness of it, but the, the variety and it just keeps you learning, which is really what I've always respected most about. My mentors in the past is, is physicians who want to keep and do keep learning because I, I strongly feel that with today's medical changes being so rapid, if you're not able to keep up and do keep up, uh, you're not providing the best patient care.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. And it. It seems like it's the kind of [00:06:00] profession that lends itself better towards having a bit more structure around what your time looks like, and then with that maybe more of a handle on a work-life balance. Does that seem fair? Absolutely. My, uh, wife is also a physician. She was an infectious disease specialist, so we met in medical school and so we, we knew that we would never see each other if we both went into, you know, full surgical specialties.

And I do a lot of surgical dermatology. The other providers at our clinic are less surgical, so I do most surgery and, and, and a lot of surgical dermatology 'cause I, I gravitated toward it. Other, I still like general dermatology and pathology as well. So there are a few more emergent things, mainly post-op things that can happen, like bleeding.

Hmm. You know, the night of a surgery. But in general, yes. Dermatology is. We're able to have a very nice work life balance. Mm-hmm. [00:07:00] And a mos surgery for anybody that doesn't know. That's the layer by layer removal of cancerous cells. Right? Yeah. Um, it's spelled MOHS. It's named after Fred Mos, who came up with this procedure long ago in the thirties, I think.

But yeah, it's a way that we track skin cancer, like on the nose or the eyelid lip ears, where you don't have as much skin to work with. Uh, it allows to get the skin cancer out with the smallest wound and the least scar. Mm-hmm. And so it has very good use in certain locations. And given that it's somebody's face, I imagine they really appreciate the attention to detail in, in the not scarring.

Right. Right. Um, we, yes, and we try to follow our patients along until, basically, I always tell 'em until we're both happy with how it looks. Mm-hmm. Alright, so I guess more broadly, because you said that this is a profession that has a wide scope, all ages, all stages [00:08:00] of life, what are some habits, maybe three habits for good healthy skin?

Well, number one would be sun protection. Mm-hmm. You know, hats, clothing is always best. And, and I tell people, you don't have to go buy the expensive SPF specific clothing. Just a tight weave on your clothing. Uh, blocks the sun just fine the uv, so that number one, sunscreen as well. Sunblock, uh, number two, if you want skin rejuvenation somewhat as well.

Kind of reverse the clock. Then a class of medications called retinoids. Mm. Retin a being the most well known. Uh, over the counter there's retinol, retinaldehyde, Retin A Tretinoin is tried and true. Still better than anything out there for reversing. I mean, it's used a lot for wrinkles and cosmetic reasons, but it does reverse some [00:09:00] damage.

Hmm. And then number three in our climate is probably, uh, moisturizing. Um, and. Even I'd add to that is sleep. And finally, probably bigger than most people think is s smoking. Hmm. Smoking creates so much skin damage from what does, uh, internally, throughout the whole body, including the skin and the, and the dermis beneath the, the top.

Interesting. And would that be any substance? Because I know in Colorado people smoke a variety of substances. Know, I don't know if thing that's been studied as well, but, um, it's kind of interesting if I'm seeing a patient for the first time and they're, you know, in their maybe forties, fifties before they speak and I can hear their horse voice, I can tell if most of the time if they've been, or, or a smoker, interesting Mexican skin.

Yeah. I'm thinking, you know, that might be a better avenue to keep people from smoking. It's just gonna make you look not like [00:10:00] you wanna look. Rather than it's gonna, you know, give you lung cancer or heart disease. Right, right. Wow, that's really fascinating. I'm not sure that I've ever heard that, but it makes sense.

Yeah, it makes sense. So, Dr. B, what have you found most rewarding about working in your field and then conversely, what has been most difficult? You know, the rewards are many. Um, it's still patient care, just. Connecting in dermatology, we also see patients back, you know, regularly for their annual look or their six month check or their acute issues.

Um, and so it becomes a personal relationship that becomes significant for us as providers and the patients. I think, um, and that's probably the most rewarding part. But to be able to, um, when they do have an acute thing or a skin cancer, to be able to remove it, to be able to reassure them that, you know, yeah, you have melanoma, but it's gonna be okay because these other tests are, [00:11:00] are fine.

That's the heart of medicine to me, is that relationship. Mm-hmm. The, the challenges. I probably the obvious the, the administrative part, um, there's so many rules and regulations and hoops and you have to keep track of that. It just, it, it's, it causes a lot of time away from the patient and that's just the way it is.

So I'm not complaining. I'm just saying it's definitely, uh. Right. That you have to take time to commit to. Right. So when I worked with you at the Fort Collins Skin Clinic, I remember that at that time we actually still had paper charts. Yes. And actually one of my first responsibilities was filing those paper charts where they needed to go.

Yes. And I am just wondering how have you seen the transition to electronic charts to be helpful and. [00:12:00] Do you ever miss the paper element of it? Um, you know, the paper chart's main issue was finding them. Yeah. And then getting the information into them because trying to write it all down and we would dictate and then it would get transcribed.

So, you know, when the electronic medical records became mandated, that created an urgency that everybody then was. Confused and there was a lot of noise and there was a lot of, there were a lot of systems that weren't very good. Hmm. But looking back now, I'd have to say that I definitely prefer electronic medical records to paper.

Mm-hmm. 'cause all the patient information is there. We, we are, uh, altitude Dermatology is intentionally on the uc Health Epic, my Health Connection System. Um, because. I believe 65% of the [00:13:00] community in Northern Colorado here is involved in some way in the uc health system. So it connects us with referring providers, connects us with the patients through the portal, all the information's in one place.

So when patients see us, unlike other. Clinics in the community, their notes are, are very easy to find for their primary care providers. Um, so it, it, it's been really helpful that way. And, you know, epic is a, is a very large system used by lots of different specialties, but you can tailor it to your own needs, which we do in dermatology.

And it, I find it very efficient now. Yeah. And I will say, I actually really do appreciate that so many providers in our community are using one centralized system because it does make it easy, even, you know, for managing my kids and their healthcare. It's just so nice that I can go to one place and see all of those pieces of information.

And then I can imagine as a provider, [00:14:00] it's also helpful to have all of that information, to not have to wait on records from a. A different physician or something like that. But I do have this one, I guess. I guess I would be curious how it feels to you to be on a screen when you're with a patient.

Because the only example I have from my life really for this is that if I'm ever on my phone, while my kids, while I'm trying to have meaningful interaction with my kids, I feel like it just changes the dynamic, you know? And so I wonder if you ever feel that as a provider, if it ever feels. Like the screen part of it and all the things you have to click and all of that, if that does have a different feel in the exam room.

Does that make sense? Absolutely. I absolutely feel the same way you do when I'm in, uh, an appointment and, you know, the attention's focused on the screen. It just, it's distracting and it's, it's hard to feel like you're being listened to as much. So actually none of the providers in our clinic. Bring [00:15:00] their computer screens into the exam rooms.

Oh, nice. Um, yeah, I don't, I just make my note after I leave the room. Our, many of our other providers have what are called scribes. They have assistants who are documenting what the visit is about. Um, but the provider themself is fully listening and looking at the patient. So we are very aware of that and we try to.

Completely avoid it. Yeah. It sounds like you guys have really put some intentional measures in place to do that. That's great. Yeah, and actually, now that you say that, I remember that from my own visit with one of your PAs in the Fort Collins office. So, yeah. Good. Yeah. Okay. So you love the medical profession, but I think you do have an acumen for the business side of things and looking more at the business side of things.

What encouragement would you give people who have vision for starting their own practice or [00:16:00] business, and what has helped you navigate all the elements that go into that? Well, I would say, first of all, surround yourself with a good team. Mm. People who are like-minded have similar goals. Um, and I think being very goal oriented is, Lisa's helped me a lot so you can see the path that you're on and how you're proceeding along it.

So you have some feedback. Um, and it definitely takes a commitment. Uh, I don't think you want to start any business with, without fair knowledge of what you're doing as a first step, and then the commitment to follow through through all the hurdles and, uh, issues that come along. You know, it's, it's a time commitment for sure, but, um, it's got its own rewards as well.

You mentioned that you know you'll have roadblocks or setbacks. I can imagine that those are a plenty when you are trying to [00:17:00] move something forward. Do you personally have any examples, whether it be people or books, or maybe a quote that really encourages you? Is there anything that, that you go back to again and again as you persevere in these kinds of things, like a mentor?

Or business principle, just anything that encourages you as you've met with those roadblocks and challenges. Um, the, the quote that pops into my mind is, uh, beware the vengeance of a patient, man. No, I'm just kidding. Um, you know, as what I've learned over time is I'm, I'm a pretty driven person. And I'm very focused at times.

Um, but at the end of the day when I sit back and look at what I'm doing, I try to block out all that noise and I focus on, you know, who's really in control And it's not me, it's God. [00:18:00] The more I do that, the more peace I feel and the more everything just. It flows. Mm-hmm. So I would say, you know, my faith is what keeps me grounded and keeps me sane.

Mm. Yeah. I completely understand. So do you have any habits that help you leave it at work or has working in the medical profession and your own practice felt like holding a lot of tension around work-life balance? Definitely as we're starting up here, because I've worked in the major scenarios of private practice and again, private practice and built, uh, you know, helped build a, a larger clinic and then worked in the uc health system, which is less business minded for me as a provider, which was nice.

Um, but something, you know, draws me to this. So the, these first six months are, are the [00:19:00] more time intensive part. It's just by nature of starting something. So just this last weekend I found myself delegating a lot more, which is good. I think it's healthy for the whole organization. I de delegated a lot already.

We have a, you know, amazing team, an amazing administrator, but. I'm letting go of that even more because, you know, when I eventually am not doing this anymore, they will. And so I'm trying to pass on to them, you know, whether they take it or not. And I don't blame 'em, whether they do or not, just some of the stuff I've learned over time.

Man, delegation is such a gift, but it can be really tricky to find your, your footing and to, to know when to let things go and yeah. So good for you. Yeah. Yeah. Is there anything you would wanna speak to that the practice does? Just that we, we offer the full spectrum for dermatology services. There's really nothing we don't [00:20:00] do, except there may be some esoteric things that we don't do.

But, you know, our providers are all very experienced. They've been in the community here for a long time. We didn't really start a new practice as much as we transferred seasoned providers to a new practice. So I, I think. That our strength is our patient care, and that's how we intend to keep it. Mm, yeah.

I really love that. So let's say that you're in the office, you're not doing mos, just you're seeing routine patients. Is there a particular kind of skin malady that you're actually really excited because it, it forces you to learn new things? Yeah, there's, there's a couple levels of that. One is, I still get excited having teenager who's come in with just very bad acne.

Mm. They're very withdrawn [00:21:00] and you know, they might not admit it, but it's affecting their life, they life at school. And then to be able to put 'em on a medication like Accutane. I see over these four or five months, uh, just the change in their personality and their, their happiness or their, their joy, you know, because this is a major thing that, that has, has been changed for the good.

That still excites me. And to see a psoriasis patient who, you know, 10 years ago was. Creams and, you know, put 'em in a light box. You know, it was very minimal. But now all the biologic therapies we have now, just life changing. It's just, you know, in, in, in four weeks there's a medication that can almost completely clear them up.

Um, and it's just amazing. Um, and so we are seeing a lot more medical dermatology now than we used to. 'cause we have better treatment for it. [00:22:00] So. You know, we have to look at the whole patient as well because some of these medications have other potential side effects, and so we, we have to know more than just the skin.

We have to know, you know, their cardiovascular history and, and their immune system history. And so it's, it's imperative that we keep up and learn. More than just the skin and how we're affecting the skin, but how we're affecting the rest of the body. Mm-hmm. And so just by nature, learning about these medications you learn, you just keep learning.

And so I'm excited to treat patients who just, it's life changing for them. Uh, and secondly, because, um, I'm a supervisor of physician assistants, they're always bringing me interesting patients that. Keep me on my toes. Like, okay, what is this? Or how do we treat this? So it's, it's all good. I am, I'm very blessed to be able to [00:23:00] do this.

Yeah. Well, and to speak to what you were saying, you know, your skin, your physicality, the way you show up before other people, there really is a lot tied to that. So whether it's acne or a rash or psoriasis or, or warts or something else, I mean, I can see how it would be so gratifying to bring people real.

Relief or real solutions for these conditions, these considerations they have that are actually having an impact on their own. Yeah, their own sense of confidence as they interact with other people, so that, that feels really meaningful. Yeah. I mean it, it can seem minor, but it can be huge. Yes, absolutely.

So, as I mentioned in the intro, you are part or you were part of a band called Off Call and that band played at my wedding, which I'm still just so grateful for to this day. I'm curious if you guys still play [00:24:00] together and I'd love to hear how you came to be. Uh, the answer is yes. We still play together.

Uh, we've had a few hiatus, I guess you would call it, but yeah, in fact, just yesterday we were emailing each other about when we can practice next. Um, so we came to be, there's been a few iterations of the band, but originally it was primarily physicians. Um, started with myself, uh, as the drummer, a pulmonologist as bass player.

My wife was actually in the original iteration as infectious disease. Um, we've had guitar players who were pulmonologists, cardiologist, and now we have a. Vocalist slash keyboard slash trumpet player who's a neurologist, and we even have a PhD doctor who's, uh, professor at CSU. Um, and then we have other people who just like to, you know, we've [00:25:00] known for a long time.

So it's a, it's a good group. We've been together a long time. We like to play pretty much all eras of music, so we have a lot of variety. So it's fun and we enjoy playing out and uh, we, you know, if anybody listening needs a band for anything, let us know. 'cause the best part is we're free and we're actually okay.

Yeah. Yeah. And you give us certain songs to learn and we'll learn them. Yeah. Have you played any other weddings? We played another employee. Okay. After you who? Uh, we played at her wedding as well. Reception. Yeah. Um, and we've done some graduation parties, um, and last summer we even got to play at, uh, Mishawaka.

Fun. Yeah. You know, I've never actually been to an event at the Mishawaka, but have driven by and seen, you [00:26:00] know, cars parked along the street for miles to Yeah. Um, to go. So Cool. It's a cool venue. Yeah. Yeah. Well, is there anything else that you would like to say about altitude dermatology or the offerings or as encouragement to the listeners?

Only that we've intentionally, uh, created in our schedule slots for people to get in quickly. So if there's a more, you know, acute need and if you have your own dermatologist but you can't get in, we, we have access in that way just 'cause we have so many providers and we have so many options and locations and times, and that is really, really helpful because dermatology is one of those.

Disciplines that can be booked out for months. And when people have an acute skin need, they really want resolution quickly. Exactly right. That's that's wonderful. I'm glad that you said that. All right, so now we're going to transition to a part of the show where I just really like to ask you some fun [00:27:00] questions.

Okay? Okay. So if you could become proficient in a hobby that you don't currently have, what would it be and why? Uh, um. You know, it would probably be learning another instrument. Hmm. Like guitar just 'cause you know, back in MES school, my wife tried to teach me guitar and it was a major failure. Um, but, you know, I think I love music, um, and in all forms.

So learning another instrument that's requires more music theory than drumming probably would be fun. Okay. Do you play music? Do you have a playlist while you do most surgery? Yes. Uh, we actually have a playlist that was created by one of the medical assistants, uh, that I used to work with at uc Health.

He shared it with us and it's got, I dunno, 690 songs on it now. Mainly, uh, what would be classified as alternative rock. [00:28:00] Okay. Fun. Yeah. Alright. If you had to describe the vibe of Altitude Dermatology in three words, what would you say and what would they be? Patient care first. Hmm. I like that you've just been given an all-inclusive seven day vacation.

Where are you headed and who is going with you? Hmm. It might take more than seven days 'cause it would probably take like two days to get there and get back. But my, uh, wife, uh, traveled to Israel many years ago with our daughter, and I think I, I would like to go to Israel when things are calmer. Mm-hmm.

With my wife. Great. That would be lovely. Okay, so now I would like to invite you to give your own shout out. Who would you want to tell thanks for doing that and why? Several years ago, I, I met a man named Eric Dowdy who [00:29:00] got involved in an organization called Feed My Starving Children slash Slam and Famine.

And every two times a year now, they, uh, fundraise by a bunch of. Grains and, and, uh, vitamins and all these other things that they pack at, at events over a weekend to pack all these meals that then go to third world countries. And it's amazing how many kids it feeds for a year. Mm-hmm. And so they do a, a great job of, of involving the community and, and actually making a difference in the world, in my opinion.

So definitely that organization. Cool. Oh, it's local. Yeah, there's a, they, they do it all locally here. Um, they do a general one and they do a more student college-based one, uh, events. Um, a lot of planning and timing and fundraising. So that would definitely be an [00:30:00] organization I would give a shout out to.

Very cool. Eric Dowdy with Feed My Starving Children. Yep. Very cool. All right, so the way I end my show is I've actually prepared a Haiku just for you as an expression of my thanks, and to just kind of spell out why I wanted to have you on today. So I'd like to read it for you now. Okay. Okay. Intentional care for patient and staff alike.

Thanks for doing that. That's awesome. And I like to say that. How long have I known you, Heather? 15 years maybe, or more? Yeah, about that. I think she is been a delightful person. Well centered, just giving and you know, we cross paths once in a while and we hope to cross paths again. Well, thank you so much Dr.

Rock. It's been my pleasure to host this conversation. You're welcome.[00:31:00] 

Thanks for doing that. Is presented to you by the apiary, a place for beholding and becoming, and thank you for joining us for today's episode. Before you go, I have a couple of invitations. If you found it meaningful, could I invite you to take two minutes to rate and review the show? I also invite you to help me create an upcoming episode of thanks for doing that by nominating someone or suggesting a topic.

Let's link arms to call out the good and the beautiful that we see around us because I really believe that finding delight in our divided and difficult world. Could make all the [00:32:00] difference.