Dr. Terrie Wurzbacher

Dr. Wurzbacher has spent over 30 years as a physician, 29 of them in the United States Navy. She graduated from the University of Vermont and then attended the College of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery in Des Moines, Iowa where she joined the United States Navy. She was board certified in Emergency Medicine and has served in many different assignments in her Navy career. She taught combat medicine for two years and has many years experience in disability medicine. She attained the rank of Captain prior to retiring to San Antonio, Texas. She served in both clinical and administrative positions supervising many different types of clinical environments and teaching for the last 20 years of her career. Teaching young doctors and ancillary medical staff has been a passion of hers because it’s through this venue that she can actually teach the importance of good doctor-patient communication. She has received many military awards but doesn’t feel they are nearly as important as the health and happiness of her patients and staff.

She prides herself in at least trying to understand her patients. This did not come naturally, however. She recognized that she wasn’t good at communication early on in her career and the Emergency Department is one (of many) places that being good at communication is essential since you have no records to work with and a short amount of time to glean information and make a diagnosis.

Since retiring, Dr. Wurzbacher has established a company called Getting Unstuck, LLC – a multifaceted business but with one common goal. That goal is to assist people in getting ‘unstuck’ from whatever problems they are going through. In that venue, “Your Doctor Said What?” fit in perfectly. She wants to wake everyone up – patients and doctors. She feels that the communication issue is the responsibility of every party. She wants doctors, patients, medical staff, medical students, pharmacies and lawmakers to “get unstuck”!

Probably most importantly, she considers herself a professional patient. What’s that, you ask? It’s a person who has been a patient and experienced most of what she talks about in her book. She has been impressed by good doctors and also by bad doctors. She tells people that this book has been inside her for over 15 years and just now has come to the paper.