New family medicine doctor at Crouse concentrates on women’s health, enjoys guiding teens and young adults into adulthood
By Chris Motola
Q: How long have you been with Crouse Health?
A: I’ve been with Crouse since last July.
Q: What put Crouse on your radar?
A: It was an easy decision. I wanted to come back to Syracuse. I was working in Cortland and we had moved to Jamesville. Luckily there was an opening at the Crouse Medical Practice at Brittonfield. When I came and met everyone the office dynamic was completely different than what I’d experienced in the past. Even now it’s still amazing how helpful everyone is to each other and how positive an environment it is. If there’s a problem we just discuss it. It’s great.
Q: You practice family medicine, but you also have a couple subspecialties.
A: I have a concentration in women’s health and addiction medicine; but I don’t really practice addiction medicine anymore. I also have a special track in geriatrics.
Q: Do you see a lot of synergy between them? For example, treating older women?
A: Yeah, all the time. Women I see from younger adults who are interested in contraception to menopausal females who are suffering from hot flashes. I do pap smears in the office. Hopefully in the future I’ll be able to do contraception in the office as well, like IUDs.
Q: Have you built out your patient base yet?
A: I’m fairly new. I did acquire some patients from a previous provider who retired. But I wanted to build my patient base a little bit. One thing that I love, I love working with young adults and teenagers, people who are learning about their health. I feel like education is a really important part of being a primary care physician. After kids graduate from pediatric care to adult care they’re often a little bit stunned. Sometimes they’ll even have a mom in the room. I really find it enjoyable to be able to bridge that gap with them, doing it in a comfortable, relaxed setting where we can build trust. Especially with females; we can talk about things like contraception and things they might not be comfortable talking to anyone else about. I think one of my strengths is being able to help bridge that gap and setting up a foundation for how they’ll take care of themselves.
Q: I noticed you also have training in public health. What were some of the lessons to take away from the pandemic?
A: I think the importance of public health is even more emphasized. What I loved about public health is that I can reach a larger population than just my patient-to-patient interactions and I can use preventative care to do so. After COVID I think there’s been a shift in understanding about what public health is and preventative care. But, yeah, that was, and is, a scary thing. It’s still something that I’m grappling with every day with patient encounters. There’s definitely a shift in people trying to learn more about their health, using the internet more to try to learn.
Q: How do you split the difference between the broad prescriptions of public health and the very individualized recommendations of patient care?
A: I think they meld together. Preventative care and education are the major components of public health. They’re what’s beneficial in the individual setting, but also in the large community setting.
Q: Do you find it’s easier or more difficult to get younger patients to take preventive health advice?
A: I think it’s way easier. They’re so open-minded, not just in terms of their health but their lives. A lot of them are just coming out of pediatric environment. They’re often thankful to have someone to help guide them through the transition. They’re grateful to hear about what they should be doing. Most of them are pretty healthy, so the preventative care is especially important to them. “Maybe I should get a dentist?” It sets them up for life. And as they get a little bit older they’re starting to think about having a family. It’s bridging those stages of life that makes family medicine so rewarding.
Q: How does that contrast with your geriatric patients? Is it more disease management?
A: Honestly I think geriatrics is mostly about caring. It’s making sure everything is appropriately balanced. Making sure there isn’t too much pharmacology: making sure they aren’t on, like, 65 different medications. Making sure that their wishes are heard. Making sure that we’re doing whatever preventative care they want. A lot of it is also just making sure they’re able to take care of themselves. Are they able to shower by themselves? If not, how are they showering? Why did you lose 20 pounds? Oh, you’re not eating, let’s set up Meals On Wheels. Depression is really common in geriatrics. With the older generations there wasn’t the same culture of seeking help for it. The social aspect of geriatrics is key. I think that’s where you get to make the biggest difference for your patients. Things like that are important with geriatrics. They’re the hard parts that no one really talks about.
Lifelines
Name: Nidhi Simlote Villanueva, M.D.
Position: Primary care physician at Crouse Primary Care at Brittonfield
Hometown: Jamesville
Education: Medical degree from St. Georges University School of Medicine; Master of Public Health from University at Buffalo; residency at Arnot Ogden Medical Center, Elmira; internship at St. Joseph’s Health
Affiliations: Crouse Hospital
Career: Family medicine assistant clinical professor, SUNY Upstate Medical University; primary care physician at Cayuga Primary Care Family Medicine
Organizations: American Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, Reproductive Health Access Project
Family: Husband, son, beagle
Hobbies: Trying new restaurants, photography, tennis