As the only pediatric infectious disease specialist at Marshfield Clinic, Dr. Scott Olson will help patients that have severe or complicated infections, including congenital infections in newborns and life-threatening infections in older children.

Dr. Olson was a pediatric infectious disease specialist while in the Navy at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland before coming to Marshfield. There he also performed research on diarrheal diseases at the Naval Medical Research Center.

“Having grown up in Wisconsin, I had heard good things about the Clinic and the position that was available fit not only my career goals, but also fit well with the type of work I want to do,” Dr. Olson said. “It is an organization that I feel very strongly I could make a home in for quite some time.”

At Marshfield, Dr. Olson will split his time between outpatient visits in the clinic, inpatient consultations at Marshfield Children’s Hospital and research at Marshfield Clinic Research Institute.

Dr. Olson believes in patient-centered care, so he takes the time to explain the diagnosis and treatment plan with his patients and their families.

“I tell my patients as much as possible so they understand what we are doing and I can get them on board,” he said. “Building that trust between the family and doctor is really a key component to the success of treatment.”

Dr. Olson uses this approach because he appreciated the investment an asthma specialist made in him when he was younger and had severe asthma.

“My family worked very closely with an asthma specialist. I appreciated how invested he was in his patients and how much he helped me have a regular childhood,” Dr. Olson said. “It meant a lot to me and I realized how much of an impact you can have as a pediatrician.”

Dr. Olson completed his pediatric residency at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tuscon, Arizona before completing a fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Washington Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Olson and his wife have two children. He enjoys camping, hiking, canoeing and playing hockey.