Dr. Susser: Been here since day one

David Susser, D.O. has been with Beaumont, Farmington Hills, Botsford General Hospital and Zieger Clinic Hospital, the predecessor to Botsord in the late 1950s. He was an intern at Zieger Clinic Hospital and by the time the internship was complete, Allan Zieger, D.O. started Botsford General Hospital. Dr. Susser was there the day it opened in 1965.

With more than 50 years in clinical care, Dr. Susser still reads EKGs for inpatients on a part-time basis.

In the 1960s, he was awarded a one-year grant to the University of Michigan Hospital to perform right- heart catheterizations—a test to see how well the heart is pumping and measure the pressures in the heart and lungs. He believes he may have been one of the first osteopathic physicians at that hospital. “I had to uproot and move my family to Ann Arbor for a year. However, it was a good learning experience doing those procedures. And I gained a mentor in Park W. Willis, III, M.D.” 

Dr. Susser feels his biggest medical contribution has been training residents. “I’ve probably trained over 500 internal medicine residents. We didn’t have cardiology residents then and by the time there was a cardiology residency, other physicians were more technically proficient, so it made sense for them to train the new residents.”

Perhaps Dr. Susser’s keen eye and dedication to training have contributed to Beaumont, Farmington Hills’ recent ranking by U.S. News & World Report as “high performing” in the Heart Failure category for common Adult Procedure and Conditions.

Passionate about medicine, he has upheld a philosophy aligning with patient and family-centered care. “Right along from the beginning, my feeling was the patient should be treated as a partner in diagnosis and the treatment of care. If they refuse dramatic interventions, then that is their decision.”

While passionate about medicine, he is most proud of his family, his wife, children, including a daughter who is an ER physician, and grandchildren, the majority of whom live within 10 minutes of him. “My priority has always been my family, and then my Botsford family.”