Doctor’s Personal Experience with Injury Creates Deeper Empathy for Patients

For a doctor who works with athletes, personal experience with injury can be a powerful tool for building empathy and trust. Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Anthony Kasch, who works at Sanford Health, uses his own history as a college football player who tore his ACL to relate to his patients.

One of his patients, high school basketball player Ashlyn Buchholz, experienced this firsthand when she tore her ACL and meniscus during her junior season. Buchholz, a graduate of Bismarck Century High School, recalls the exact moment of her injury, from the “pop” she felt to the devastating realization that she would miss the rest of her season. This was a tough blow, as she would miss her entire junior track season and the start of her senior basketball season.

Dr. Kasch understands this feeling all too well. Having gone through his own knee injury in college, he knows the physical and mental toll an ACL tear takes. He says that the injury is “quite devastating for the patients” because it can sideline them for a year or more. He believes his own recovery journey allows him to be a better, more empathetic doctor, as he can connect with his patients on a personal level. He reconstructed Buchholz’s ACL using a part of her quadriceps tendon and worked closely with Sanford Sports throughout her rehabilitation.

Buchholz’s trust in Dr. Kasch was so strong that she has referred other basketball players to him who have suffered similar injuries. A year after her surgery, she was back on the court, her team advanced to the state title game, and she qualified for the state track meet. With hard work and support from Dr. Kasch, Buchholz finished her senior year at full strength, a testament to the power of a doctor who truly understands what his patients are going through.