Alumni News
Dr. Rachel Reitan, ob-gyn and TV personality on New Orleans’s WGNO, may have to start eating her fast food in secret. “On Tuesdays, I work in Slidell, where I see the VA patients. It’s an hour outside of New Orleans, and I always get an ice cream cone from McDonald’s on my way home—always. So I’m there at the little window, and the cashier says, ‘Oh, you’re Dr. Rachel from the TV! Good thing you didn’t get a hamburger and French fries!’ And I thought, oh god, that’s so true!” It’s little wonder that the diminutive woman with a big personality is becoming a recognizable figure in Louisiana. Reitan’s no-nonsense, highenergy persona translates easily to television, and the twominute segments that she tapes for WGNO dispense broadly applicable but oft-overlooked medical advice. Reitan focuses on trending topics—sunscreen tips, probiotics, gluten allergies—and says that her highest-hitting story was in June, when she highlighted men’s health. “It was great,” she enthuses, “because I got to say, ‘I love you, Dad!’ ” “Dad” is Phillip Reitan, Luther professor emeritus of biology. Of her upbringing, the younger Reitan recalls, “I think I always did want to be a doctor. Dad taught all the premed people, and I loved going over there to dissect and everything. Just because girls become nurses—that was my belief—I did the nursing thing.” After graduating from Luther, however, Reitan earned
her medical degree at UW– Madison and started a residency in dermatology. But Reitan, having cut her chops in her father’s dissection lab, had little patience for what she saw as squeamishness in the field. So, with an acute interest in the health of women, she turned to obstetrics and gynecology. In addition to attending to women’s health at the Slidell VA, Reitan teaches at Tulane University, where she is also in charge of women’s services at the student health clinic. She also works in the Rape Division of the Jefferson Parish Coroner’s Office. In spite of her deep involvement in her field, she talks about nursing wistfully. “Because I have a nursing background, patient education is very, very important to me.... As a physician, you really don’t have enough time for it, unfortunately. That’s another thing I love about the segments: teaching people.” While most of Reitan’s WGNO segments are energetic and infused with humor, sometimes teaching people is a solemn endeavor. Future plans include a segment on the dangers of leaving kids in the car and another on rape. Reitan isn’t interested in helping only people; she’s also passionate about animal health and safety. She works with the Humane Society and the SPCA and estimates that she’s rescued about 26 feral cats, kittens, and puppies (her goal is to reach 100). By her own account, she’s “not a cat person,” so she’s kept only one of her rescues. In a funny twist, when Reitan took what she thought was her tumor-afflicted pet kitten into the vet’s office, it turned out that the cat was pregnant, and Reitan found
Courtesy Rachel Reitan ’87
“Watch two minutes and call me in the morning”: Rachel Reitan ’87 dispenses medical advice to the masses
“I think I always did want to be a doctor. Dad taught all the premed people, and I loved going over there to dissect and everything.” herself on the other end of the ultrasound—which, because it’s so time-consuming, can be the bane of a busy doctor’s existence. “The vet and I were just boohoo crying, because you see these little kittens on there, on the ultrasound, in their little bags,” she recalls. “We were bawling. So ever since then, I understand why women are so excited seeing that little baby on the ultrasound. That cat kind of changed my whole outlook on doing ultrasounds.” —Kate Frentzel Watch Reitan’s WGNO segments at: wgno.com/bio/dr-rachelreitan.
Fall 2013 Luther Alumni Magazine
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