As the only Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist at Marshfield Clinic Health System, Scott Olson, M.D., will be splitting his time between research, outpatient visits and inpatient consultations.
Before accepting a position at Marshfield, Dr. Olson was in the Navy and practiced at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. His research background includes vaccine development for preventing diarrheal diseases at the Naval Medical Research Center. He also has an interest in antimicrobial resistance and he has investigated transmission of resistance from mothers to children.
Dr. Olson has a research appointment in the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Population Health (CCEPH) and he will be a part of its vaccine research team. He will lead an upcoming Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) study of a new hepatitis vaccine and will be a co-investigator on other studies.
He is also interested in research to improve and evaluate antibiotic stewardship practices.
"I would like to continue looking at stewardship practices and their effectiveness at improving prescribing practices for routine infections," said Dr. Olson. "Stewardship and its role in the development and transmission of antibiotic resistant organisms is a big concern nationally and globally."
To reduce antibiotic resistance, he encourages reducing the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics.
"What we want to encourage is the use of antibiotics with a narrow spectrum of activity that will treat the infection in the individual patient, as opposed to broad spectrum which work across a broad array of bacteria, including what you are trying to treat," Dr. Olson said.
Dr. Olson will also provide care for patients with severe or complicated infections, including congenital infections in newborns and life-threatening infections in older children.
Dr. Olson completed his pediatric residency at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson 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.