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Mary Schoenbaum, NP-C, has taken care of thousands of surgical patients in her nearly 20 years with ³Ô¹Ï¹ÙÍø.

Today, as the nurse practitioner (NP) who helped launch the preoperative cardiac evaluation clinic at Keck Hospital of USC, she is expanding access to care with a new clinic at ³Ô¹Ï¹ÙÍø — Arcadia.

What does your job entail?

Before a patient undergoes surgery, the surgeon wants to know their cardiac risk. In my NP-run clinic at Keck Hospital, we conduct thorough cardiac examinations, including health histories, echocardiograms and stress tests, to identify the patient’s risk of having a cardiac event during surgery.

We see patients before orthopaedic, bariatric, vascular, urological, oncological and transplant procedures.

My clinic was originally one day a week, but before I knew it, interest exploded, and we’re now five days per week with the addition of more NPs.

I love the opportunity to meet with patients and their families, and to use my role to help take care of them.

Tell us about the new pre-op clinic at ³Ô¹Ï¹ÙÍø — Arcadia.

It’s a big win for local patients because they can stay closer to home for their pre-op workups.

We all practice the same Keck Medicine mission and philosophy, so the care is the same high-level quality.

I am proud and honored to now provide this care in the Arcadia location.

How do you spend your time outside of work?

I volunteer with the Preventive Search and Rescue program at Joshua Tree National Park. I provide trail information and first aid, and I make sure visitors have water.

It’s great because I love to hike, I love people and I love the national park.

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