Photography by Brandi Stage Portraiture
Don’t make the mistake of underestimating Dr. Theresa V. Case due to her petite stature.
“Patients are often surprised by how short I am,” says the 5-foot-tall physician with Memorial Health System. “They then realize that I am a powerhouse in a small frame who will work to get things done.”
Case, who was born and raised in Gulfport, describes herself as driven. If she can’t succeed at first, she will keep trying until she achieves her goal. As a doctor, she finds it especially rewarding when a patient comes to her after seeing several other doctors and she picks up on a small, overlooked detail that makes all the difference.
“I am then able to work with the patient to formulate a treatment plan that provides them an improved quality of life,” Case says. “I love to see them come back smiling when they are finally feeling better and back to doing things they enjoy.”
A NATURAL LEADER
Case identified her calling — and her gifts — at an early age.
“I have been a natural leader from the time that I was young,” she says. “Medicine intrigued me, as I felt that it would give me the opportunity to educate people and hopefully lead them to a healthier lifestyle.”
The doctor faced a setback when she wasn’t immediately accepted into medical school, but instead of giving up, she went to work at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, conducting medical research.
“When I started medical school, I had a greater appreciation for my place as a future doctor,” Case says. “I had also gained experience in the management of junior researchers who were under my supervision.”
She went on to earn her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Pikeville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Pikeville, Kentucky, before completing her residency and fellowship at the University of Kentucky. After her training, she joined a pulmonary group in Lexington, Kentucky, where she worked for eight years before returning to Gulfport a year ago.
Practicing medicine in her hometown has been an eye-opening experience for Case.
“Growing up, I did not realize how medically underserved this population is,” she says. “Patients here see medicine as more reactive than proactive. I hope to change that expectation.”
AN EMPHASIS ON PREVENTION
During her internal medicine residency, Case became very interested in critical care — a specialty that focuses on treating people with life-threatening illnesses or injuries.
“I enjoy that critical-care medicine continues to provide me with the opportunity to use my internal-medicine training in the most critically ill patients,” she says.
Now practicing at Memorial Health locations in Gulfport and Biloxi, Case says the pulmonary portion of her specialty is a natural fit.
“As I have continued to practice medicine,” she says, “I have learned to appreciate the benefit that preventative pulmonary medicine can provide to patients.”
Since she started training, the diagnosis of lung cancer is where Case has noticed the biggest change. Namely, robotic bronchoscopy has revolutionized the process of detecting the disease — letting doctors access suspicious areas with unprecedented ease and precision.
“This allowed me to biopsy a 4-millimeter (sample), which is the the thickness of two nickels stacked together, and prove this was a cancer,” the doctor says. “We are now able to diagnose lung cancer so much earlier and provide people with curative treatment.”
Case encourages everyone who qualifies to receive a lung cancer screening. Only a small percentage of eligible patients take advantage of this test, she adds, and lung cancer often is asymptomatic until it is in an advanced stage.
Whatever news Case must relay, she aims to deliver it with empathy, compassion and complete honesty.
“I hope that my patients feel that I am here to listen and to support them and validate their concerns,” she says. “I never want a patient to leave my office and not feel like I did everything available to make them feel better.”
DOCTORS ARE HUMAN, TOO
On difficult days, Case leans on her family, which includes her husband, Chad Case, an Air Force Veteran whom she met while attending Millsaps College in Jackson and with whom she shares three children, ranging in age from 2 to 7.
The couple owns land in Saucier where their family can ride side-by-sides, fish and enjoy nature away from electronic devices.
“On Sundays, we have family dinner with my parents and my younger brother,” Case says. “A weekend often includes time at our neighborhood park with the kids and a trip to the library so the kids can pick out new books of interest.”
Although doctors are healers, Case asks patients to remember that they are human, too.
“We have times that we may need to put our family first and adjust the clinic schedule or move patient appointments,” she says. “Too often, doctors neglect their own health or neglect their own families in order to take care of patients.”
Case’s husband provides a stable support as she attends to her professional duties. Over time, she hopes that her practice will continue to grow and that she will be the doctor patients seek out not only for her expertise, but also for a listening ear and help taking charge of their health.
One thing the doctor pledges to keep constant is her patient-first approach to medicine, where diseases and treatment are explained thoroughly, worries are addressed and questions are always welcomed.
“I truly love making patients feel better,” Case says. “When I am able to improve the quality of life for an asthmatic patient or a patient with COPD, that encourages me to continue doing what I do.”