Physician Features

Volunteer Spotlight: Dr. Geoffrey Seidel

Dr. Geoffrey Seidel grew up in rural upstate New York in an agricultural setting, attended Cornell University where he met his wife, attended SUNY Buffalo Medical School and completed his PMR residency at the Rehab Institute of Michigan in Detroit. He has practiced general PM&R and Electrodiagnostic medicine continuously in Southeast Michigan. He is a Clinical Professor at Wayne State University and Michigan State University. Dr. Seidel enjoys teaching medical students and residents in PM&R, orthopedics, podiatry and other specialties. Together, him and his wife, also a PM&R physician, have enjoyed teaching cadaver anatomy and electrodiagnostic medicine courses for several decades.

What made you choose PM&R?

I didn’t even know it existed as a specialty during the first three years of medical school. I put a PM&R clinical rotation in my schedule and had a wonderful experience with patient care. Having the ability to diagnose, treat and focus on a person’s life goals was a game changer for me. My initial PM&R experience altered my perspective on medical care delivery. I have loved going to work every day. I enjoy the long-term patient care relationships and the broad range of medical conditions I have had the opportunity to help with. I love it when my amputee patients come in with a worn out or broken prosthesis from overuse or my wheel chair users that come in with dirty, scratched worn out wheelchairs in need of repair because they are out living a robust life. Most of all, I truly enjoy working with teams of providers in the whole range of care services in various settings with patients to achieve optimized outcomes. I often see musculoskeletal patients in the outpatient setting who have failed to improve with multiple treatment providers. I find the objectivity of electrodiagnostic is a robust guide to diagnose, estimate prognosis and guide a prioritized approach to rehabilitation strategies.

How did you start volunteering with the ABPMR?

I chose to volunteer with the ABPMR to have a voice and work to improve the process for maintenance of certification wherever I can. I started writing questions for LA-PM&R focused on electrodiagnostic medicine and participating as a Part II examiner. I enjoy volunteering for the ABPMR because I feel I am making a significant contribution to the field, I am impressed with the next generation of PM&R physicians and the peer professional interactions are rewarding.

Tell us about these 100-mile bike rides you started doing.

I started biking as a scout leader with my children and I continued riding as I aged out of running and other sports. I love the outdoors, seeing open spaces, and responding to ridiculous challenges. Riding 100 miles a day for several days in a row is quite a challenge and it’s not for everyone! I have enjoyed and suffered through a 4 day ride across New York State on the Erie Canal rail trail (highly recommended). I rode with a group along a similar ride along the Allegheny trail from Pittsburgh to Washington DC over the Appalachian mountain range. This year a group of us rode our bikes from Atchison, Kansas across Missouri, St. Louis, the Mississippi River and on to Indianapolis in six days. There were many times I thought it might be time to get an E Bike!

What is one piece of advice you would give to someone reading this?

Whatever you do in life, enjoy what you do every day, be able to look back and be proud of your actions, leave the world a better place than you found it and give a lift up to anyone along the way who wants to move forward on the journey.