Today we’d like to introduce you to Tara Troy.
Tara, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I went to medical school at rush and completed my residency and fellowship at University of Chicago. I have been working as a gastroenterologist in Lake Forest for the past twelve years. I recently decided to leave Northwestern Medicine and begin my own small practice in Northbrook. I have chosen to create the job that I want. I also believe that my new style of practice will be delivering the care that the patients want.
My eye-opening journey of learning and developing a different strategy of care has evolved over the past several years. As a gastroenterologist trained in traditional Western medicine, my awareness and fund of knowledge regarding complementary and alternative medicine were very limited. I found myself frustrated and disappointed when my best efforts with diagnostic tests, endoscopic procedures, and pharmacologic therapies would fail to improve a patient’s symptoms.
It was evident that increasing numbers of people were hesitant to jump to medications and were more interested in alternative non-pharmaceutical options. Western medicine has been slow and somewhat reluctant to embrace these alternative strategies. Despite this resistance, the general public has proceeded to spend billions of dollars on nutritional interventions and supplements. Unfortunately, many of the dietary programs and products advertised are not supported by credible scientific evidence. I became determined to learn about the alternative modalities that DO have the research to support their widespread use. My interest in identifying these holistic solutions was driven not by the field of gastroenterology, but by my patients’ motivation and queries.
I have assembled a like-minded team dedicated to continually educating ourselves on the latest research and developments regarding food as medicine, creating a healthy gut microbiome, and optimizing the connection between the mind and the gut. With this knowledge, we want to help identify factors that patients can influence or control and guide them through the overwhelming options flooding the marketplace, as well as empower them to impact their own health destiny.
Separately, I want to down as many barriers as possible so as to encourage patients to get the GI care they need, in particular, colon cancer screening. I absolutely understand that getting a colonoscopy will never be considered a “fun” experience. I aim to make the process as pleasant, effortless, and efficient as possible, while simultaneously maintaining the highest quality and safety standards. Little things may make the process easier: more preparation options, allowing breakfast the day before the test, early morning and Saturday procedure times, post-procedure prebiotic smoothie, and a deluxe endoscopy suite with private soundproofed bay for the patient and their companion to watch TV, read magazines, or get work done on a laptop workstation with a charging station while they wait. If we can get everyone to leap on the recommendation for colon cancer screening, we know we can reduce the risk of colon cancer by 75-90% (the second most common cause of cancer deaths).
The practice opens on September 4th, 2018 and CLEARLY, I am so excited to make this happen!
Has it been a smooth road?
Deciding to leave all of my wonderful colleagues at Northwestern was incredibly challenging. Their support and encouragement have been so meaningful.
The time involved. Up until last Friday, I was working as a full-time physician with a husband who is a full-time physician and being the mom to a 10 and 13-year-old daughter. Aside from some incredibly necessary vacations, I have spent nearly every moment working towards this goal. I have a massive capacity for work, but I often struggle to practice what I preach in terms of relaxation, nutrition, exercise, engagement, mindfulness, and play.
Compiling the perfect team. I truly underestimated how challenging the hiring process would be. I will start off with about 10 employees. Researching the options, coordinating interviews, having to tell people that the job is NOT the perfect fit for them, etc. – so much harder than anticipated.
Learning multiple completely new languages. I am a physician – I know the world of medicine like the back of my hand. I am having to learn about website design, marketing, and advertising strategy, maintaining a social media campaign, how to apply for a business loan, make profit and loss projections, in addition to getting the rudimentary knowledge about billing companies, clearinghouse, electronic medical record companies, credit card services, THE LIST GOES ON. But, I think I am getting multilingual!
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Comprehensive Gastrointestinal Health story. Tell us more about the business.
I think I might have rambled too much before about this question…
I will highlight again the emphasis on the entire individual. The ideas of “food as medicine”, the importance of the mind-gut connection, and the fascinating role (at least fascinating to nerds like me) of the trillions of microorganisms that reside in your gut are all now mainstream principles. Some academic/tertiary care centers are bringing these principles of care to the patients in centers of excellence. Unfortunately, these excellent institutions can be complicated and inconvenient to navigate. I want to bring the same coordinated care in an easy to access platform and location.
The other big difference is communication. These last several years in medicine have led to larger and larger health systems with accompanying complexities. Patients are so frustrated by call centers, redundant forms, and the challenge of communication between their different health care providers. I want to be small and incredibly easy to communicate with. Starting fresh is fantastic because I can lead with the best that technology has to offer right now, rather than having to convert or merge old systems. As well, I have shared with my staff the mandate that ease of communication is of the highest priority.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I think there will continue to be a pushback from patients against pharmaceutical solutions, especially as the baby boomer population lessens and the Gen-Xers and Millennials become a larger part of the patient population. I think these younger generations are much of the drive for finding nutritional solutions, mindfulness, etc. to help improve their health.
I think the knowledge we will gain about the gut microbiome will be amazing. We have barely glanced the tip of the iceberg. I think research will unfold so much information about the microbiome role in metabolism, autoimmune diseases, and even potentially the impact on mood and cognition.
Lastly, I hope that there will be even more of a focus on health promotion/wellness rather than just treatment of disease that already exists.
Contact Info:
- Address: 40 Skokie Boulevard
Suite 110
Northbrook, Illinois 60062 - Website: www.compgihealth.com
- Phone: 224-407-4400
- Email: info@compgihealth.com
Image Credit:
JA Headshots, Jessica Kaplan Photography
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
