UCD Doc walks Road Less Traveled

Dr. McCloud talks with a
Mini-Med student

Dr. Michael McCloud is a member of a very exclusive club, a club he wishes was much larger and more diverse. He is one of a small number of board certified geriatricians in Northern California, a medical specialty that’s desperately needed, but nonetheless, a rarity. 

Dr. McCloud is a clinical professor of medicine with the UC Davis Health System, Department of Internal Medicine, and founder of Aging and Medical Science: A Mini Medical School to Prepare for Life's Second Half, the annual community program that features in-depth weekly seminars to educate people about health and the aging process. There is no charge for the program which is taught by a team of eminent physicians and health educators who volunteer their time and expertise. Now in its 10th year, Mini Med School has become so popular that reservations for the 500 seats are filled six months in advance with a waiting list at least as large.

Medical Facts, Peppered with Fun

 

Central to the success of the program is Dr. McCloud whose sharp sense of humor and engaging personality provide a counterpoint to serious medical talks about cardiology, gastroenterology, medications, neurology and other weighty topics. That said, Dr. McCloud makes sure some serious fun is part of the curriculum with an occasional dancing doctor and a very popular session on the bounteous benefits of beer.



Dr. McCloud watches
as 2012 class gets
set to graduate

With the avalanche of baby boomers looking forward to creating healthy and active older years, expertise in geriatric medicine will be in high demand. However, as a medical specialty it has not been a popular choice. For every one geriatrician graduated, there are nine cardiologists entering practice. For every 8,000 people in California, there is one geriatrician. Why then, did Michael McCloud, a graduate of Duke University, choose the road less traveled? It was actually a detour.

 “I had a private general internal medicine practice in San Francisco for 15 years and thoroughly enjoyed it,” he explains. “Because I did a lot of house calls and nursing home calls, my practice base gradually became older than most primary care practices. And, I did enjoy the patient population a great deal.”

Consequently, when he had the opportunity, he completed a geriatric specialty at Duke and Yale universities, planting the seeds for his distinguished career in the Sacramento region. The choice has further enriched Dr. McCloud’s appreciation for the gifts that only come with time.

“The patients are far more interesting and enjoyable than younger patients,” says Dr. McCloud. “There is a saying in geriatrics - ‘If you've seen one 80-year-old, you've seen one 80-year-old.’  They are such textured fabrics. I never, ever have a boring day.”

Healthy Senior is “Work of Art”

In an era characterized by eight-minute, impersonal visits with our family physicians, Dr. McCloud’s approach is a welcome anachronism. Older patients inspire a different approach to health care. “Geriatrics also allows me to practice truly holistic medicine. We are really treating people and not diseases,” he says. “I tell my medical students and residents that geriatrics is the mostly highly remunerated of all medical specialties. It's just not remunerated in money, but something far better.”

It’s an unfortunate reality that aging in America is often seen as a time of physical and mental decline when, in fact, science and medicine prove that both body and mind are capable of robust health into very old age - if we pay attention and follow “doctor’s orders.”

“The positive of aging, to me, is that we have a great deal of control over the outcome, if we only invest the time and interest,” advises Dr. McCloud. “I think of a newborn child as a gift of nature, a healthy young adult as a product of good genes and good parenting. The healthy senior is a work of art.”



Wearing cap and gown, Dr. McCloud
congratulates class of 2012

Prescribing Lifelong Health Education

Mini Medical School is a resource for learning how to control the medical and emotional variables in the aging process. But, since there is but one program a year - and one that’s subject to space limitations, it’s incumbent on today’s baby boomers (and people who want to one day enjoy advanced age) to engage in lifelong learning. Dr. McCloud, naturally, agrees and says “Improve your healthcare literacy, and the rest will fall into line.”

Baby boomers are fortunate to be full members of the digital era - meaning that we have free educational resources at our fingertips. Online information about healthy aging is very accessible from prestigious institutions such as Harvard, Yale, the Mayo Clinic, the National Institute of Heath and scores of credible nonprofits and research hubs.  It’s simply a matter of using our mature judgment in sifting the Internet hype from trustworthy sources.

Of course, we could always hope the Mini Medical School model proliferates and is someday able to serve many more “returning” students, although even Dr. McCloud admits that we need deeper understanding and ownership of our personal aging process. 

“The reality is, of course, that we don't actually teach what individuals need to know to age successfully.  We only give a sampler platter to taste what they need to know, and the enthusiasm to want to learn more,” he says, adding that Mini Med School holds value for people from all walks of life.“ I have now moderated 65 consecutive classes. If I weren't the course director and host, I would probably be sitting in the classroom.”

If he ever does enjoy the role of a student, there’s a good chance he will have contributed even more to our knowledge of what it means to grow older. “I actually keep a diary of some of my patient's reflections, wisdom and humor,” says Dr. McCloud. “A book is on my bucket list, but for now I am selfishly hoarding the wisdom.”