Dr. Liz Crandall says she always wanted to be a doctor. "I always presumed I would go to medical school,” she says. ”I knew I wasn't a sales person; I couldn't sell you shoes if you were barefoot! I wanted a job where I could give people something they needed — not convince them that they needed something they didn't."
She says Southdale Ob/Gyn perfectly fits her personality and work style: "Everyone likes each other, we work well together, and it's not a competition. We're not doing this for money.”
Dr. Crandall chose ob/gyn after she spent time in the delivery room during medical school. "Plus," she says, "in medical school I was always more interested in learning about women. The stuff about guys just wasn't as interesting!"
Today she enjoys the connections she makes with her patients over the years — first delivering their babies, then caring for them through later stages of life. "I take care of grandmas, and moms, and daughters. When I see my list of patients every day, I usually see someone I know and think, 'Oh good! I get to see her again.’
“I think I listen well to people. It's important to be able to read people — to understand both what they want, and what they need."
The mother of two busy young daughters, Dr. Crandall says her perfect day off calls for a skinny vanilla latte, a massage, and time spent simply watching water — the flow of the river, the waves of the lakes, or the cascade of Minnehaha Falls. "Watching water relaxes me," she says with a smile. She also enjoys needlepoint, a skill that enhances her talent in the operating room: "I am very precise with my stitches!"
Dr. Crandall says she especially loves to perform minimally invasive surgeries, which can vastly improve the lives of many women. At the same time, she says, all the facets of her daily job are rewarding. "When you know that a baby is okay because of what you did, or when you prevent someone from having an illness, or catch an illness early so your patient is taken care of — when you make a difference, that's what is most inspiring."