About
For the longest time growing up, I wanted to be a physician, because the profession embodied helping others while using science.
I graduated from St. Louis University School of Medicine in 1978 and subsequently completed my Pediatric residency at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago in 1981; I served as Chief Resident of the pediatric residency program the following year, which required clinical and administrative duties – but what I loved most was the teaching aspect that was also included.
I established my own private pediatric practice in Alton, IL, in 1983 after working as an employed physician for a year following the birth of our first child. Some transformations of the practice have occurred over the years, but I continue to own Pediatric Healthcare Unlimited and actively see patients.
I have been a clinical professor of Pediatrics at St. Louis Children’s Hospital since 1994 and have participated as a preceptor for the residency program since 1994; I still love teaching and have mentored numerous pediatric residents, medical students, and non-physician provider students over the years.
But what gives me the most satisfaction is the teaching and the guidance that I try to share with parents and patients.
I feel it is so important for parents and patients to understand the reasoning, the rationale, and a little bit of the science that goes into a particular treatment plan. My goal is to make parents feel empowered and comfortable handling their children’s medical as well as psychological needs.
In my life outside medicine, I have been married to my husband, Dr. John Wuellner, since 1978; we have two grown children who both chose medicine as their livelihood as well. But, in the day, I was a soccer mom, a carpooler for school, put band aids on scratches, a parent chaperone on overnight school trips, baked things for fundraisers, went to parent-teacher conferences, dropped children off at college; I, too, have been a parent. Now, I am a grandmother…