Feeling rushed at the doctor’s office is a common complaint, but it’s not one you’re likely to hear about Crystal Lee, M.D. of DMC Medical Group.
This internal medicine specialist forges a close relationship with each of her patients, who often find themselves showing off the latest pictures of their grandchildren or sharing other family updates during their visits with Dr. Lee.
“You’ll be surprised the conversations that I have with patients that have nothing to do with their appointment,” she says. “They come in, we talk about maybe a grandchild that was born, a son that just got married or a trip that they took.”
Knowing her patients on such a personal level means she celebrates their joys with them and feels for their defeats. “I try not to cry with the patients, but I can’t help it sometimes because I’m human,” she admits.
Dr. Lee has made a name for herself as a top trusted primary care doc for men and women across the area, where she says her office at the DMC Family Health Center in Detroit is the sort of place “where everybody knows your name.”
“It’s important to me to make my patients feel comfortable and tell me things that they wouldn’t necessarily tell another physician. I treat my patients like I treat my family members,” she says. “I care about your well-being.”
Receiving that personal attention and care “goes a long way,” she says. Each patient is an individual – not just a time slot on her schedule or a set of symptoms to diagnose.
“It’s not just that they’re a patient with high blood pressure, they are a human being, they are an individual with problems and challenges,” Dr. Lee says. “You work together to figure out the best way to achieve their goal of having good health.”
Dr. Lee’s journey to becoming a doctor started out when she was just a young girl who dreamed of being a nurse.
“Initially growing up as a child I wanted to be a nurse and drive a pink Cadillac,” she laughs.
And while she holds the nursing profession in high regard, she decided to reach for something even more.
“I was thinking to myself, ‘I’m going to do something that’s not expected of me,'” she says. “I decided at an early age I’m going to be a doctor. So I just stuck with it.”
Time spent caring for her grandmother also helped cement the idea. Now as a successful physician and the mother of a little boy at home – “He’s 4 going on 85,” Dr. Lee jokes of her son – she’s thankful for those early dreams and grateful she continues to have a strong support system rooting for her and helping her as a career mom.
“You have to have a village,” she says. “It takes a village to raise a child.”
Go to DMC Medical Group to book an appointment with Dr. Lee in minutes. Or call 1-888-300-DOCS.
