Six Questions with Dr. Michelle Muench

November 1, 2016

First job? Waitressing, in high school. My parents own the bowling center in Northfield, and I grew up waitressing there. 

Free time? I like to spend it with my husband and our kids. We like to golf and exercise together; we travel and hike. Our favorite hiking spots are Tettegouche and Gooseberry Falls state parks. Anywhere there’s water and rocks with three boys, it’s good. 

Best part of your work? Preserving vision and restoring vision. My brother is blind, so vision is very valuable to me. I also enjoy my patients; I like being part of their lives and getting to know them as a person. I love that I get to care for people in my hometown – former teachers and coaches, neighbors and friends – and I like living where I practice, so I interact with patients around town, at my kids’ school, at the grocery store. That’s really nice.

Best advice you ever got? To treat other people how you would like to be treated. I always treat people the way I would like to be treated as a patient. If I’m a family member in the room and a doctor walks in, I would like to be addressed and asked if I have questions. So I treat patients and their family members that way.

Why healthcare? Growing up with my brother, who is blind, made me want to make a difference in people’s lives. And my faith has also been an important part of guiding my career path. I always liked math, science and medicine. I didn’t know if I wanted to teach, do research or practice medicine. I really like patient care, so I chose to practice medicine. That’s really important to me: Caring for the person, and not just the condition.

If not healthcare, what would you be doing? I honestly can't imagine doing anything else, but if I had to choose it would be the FBI. It’s about paying attention to detail, figuring things out, solving problems. I like that.