result

Dr. Woods Retires After Successful National Career

Karen L. Woods, MD, looks forward to retirement after a long and fulfilling 34-year career as a gastroenterologist, most recently with the Houston Methodist Physician Specialty Group. With her retirement announcement, she has been surprised at how sentimental she feels about her patients and co-workers with their recent outpouring of affection and compliments. “I didn’t realize how appreciative many of my patients were until they heard I’m retiring. They are sharing stories about the care I provided for them, which for me, was just another day. But for them, it was sometimes a life-changing event that led them to have better insight into their ailments or to start a new treatment that has made a dramatic difference in their lives. “In the end, these recollections are of me doing what I knew was right as a physician. It’s been rewarding and very touching to hear that I’d made a big difference in their lives.,” she said.

Karen L. Woods, MD

Woods’ longtime and thriving practice began at Baylor College of Medicine. She moved to private practice in 2000 and joined Houston Methodist in 2016. “I continued to teach throughout my career and was one of the few private practice doctors to be active on a national level addressing issues that impacted day-to-day GI practice.” Her contribution to the GI field hasn’t gone unnoticed. Thanks to her service with major GI professional societies, Woods was named president of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE)—the global leader in the field of GI endoscopy. “I was at the right place at right time—a private practitioner and a woman at a time when societies were looking to expand and diversify leadership opportunities for women and other minorities,” she noted, adding that she is proud of her presidential term with ASGE and felt she made an impact on a national level.

I didn’t realize how appreciative many of my patients were until they heard I’m retiring. They are sharing stories about the care I provided for them, which for me, was just another day. But for them, it was sometimes a life-changing event that led them to have better insight into their ailments or to start a new treatment that has made a dramatic difference in their lives.

Karen L. Woods, MD

Her affinity for teaching started at the beginning of her career. “I love to learn and will always be learning,” Woods said. She considers it an important part of her work to mentor and support junior physicians by helping them get a foot in the door to serve on national society committees and leadership positions or give talks. “Part of your responsibility as a leader is to contribute to creating the next generation of new leaders in the field,” she said. Woods’ work as ASGE president included the development of an intensive training program in Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS that offered practicing gastroenterologists the opportunity to learn this important procedure without putting their practicing careers on hold). “We tackled the problem of learning an advanced procedure, which was not taught in GI fellowship, with the goal of becoming proficient and competent in EUS and fine needle aspiration of lesions. We also focused on providing training to physicians serving smaller communities so EUS could be offered to those who otherwise wouldn’t have access to advanced care. “There are many new technologies and procedures that practitioners want or need to learn,” she emphasized. “This program was a start to creating a model for post- fellowship training for new procedures that were not previously available. Some of these procedures are advanced and potentially risky; so, the learning must be thorough and methodical. Woods believes her most important and successful trait as a longtime practicing gastroenterologist is her skill for listening. “I generally spend the first part of a visit listening, giving my patients the time to express their thoughts, their symptoms and waiting until they are finished to comment. I jointly create a treatment plan with them so that I know the patient will understand the plan and be more likely to comply with my recommendations. “They may not have a problem you can fix, but they feel so much better being able to talk to someone who is listening. If you can reassure your patient they are doing all the right things, they often feel better without a change in plan,” she said “I am always physically present, mentally listening and making eye contact with my patients.”

Now that Woods will have more time on her hands, she wants to take more frequent and longer trips for one of her passions—scuba diving—sometimes traveling days to get to a diving spot and then settling in for a week or so on a boat in remote locations. “I’ve been all over the world, but I’ve not been able to dive as often as I like,” she said. “The underwater world is so peaceful and colorful … sort of like an endoscopy! Fish behavior is fascinating to watch. Sharks, which most non-divers are afraid of, are some of the most beautiful animals and are very curious. Most are not interested in attacking divers; it is when you are on the surface that they are most dangerous.” Although Woods will be retiring, she said won’t be leaving medicine behind entirely. “I love to learn,” she said. “The next phase of my learning is dive medicine. I’m not looking to practice dive medicine, but I want to feel confident if I do have to do something on a boat to help the team or other divers.”