Meet
DR. BRENT BAUER
ISPA MEDICAL ADVISOR • DIRECTOR MAYO CLINIC COMPLEMENTARY AND INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE • ROCHESTER, MINNESOTA
WHETHER YOU’VE BUMPED INTO HIM DURING
THE ISPA CONFERENCE & EXPO or caught his recent
appearance as the co-star of an ISPA video resource for
reopening spas, Dr. Brent Bauer is likely a familiar face to
many members of the ISPA family. In addition to his role
as Research Director of the Integrative Medicine Program
at Mayo Clinic, Dr. Bauer is also a
member of the ISPA Foundation Board,
where he serves as medical advisor.
Though some may still see the
worlds of traditional medicine and spa
as disconnected, that was never the
case for Dr. Bauer. “As a medical student
at Mayo Medical School, I was
taught to consider the whole person in
front of me—mind, body and spirit,” he
says. “I quickly realized that medicine
could address many of my patients’ needs,
but not all of them. This led to a lifelong interest
in the ‘other’ therapies and approaches my patients
were using—ranging from herbs and acupuncture
to massage and tai chi. As my own research—and that of
many others—increasingly showed the value of many of
these therapies, I then realized the need to integrate the
best of both worlds. Colleagues in the spa world welcomed
my interest and showed me how spa can be a
complement to the high-tech care of modern medicine.
Ruth Stricker eventually invited me to join the ISPA Foundation
Board and the experience led me to become the
Medical Advisor for ISPA, a role I have been honored to
serve in for the past 10 years.”
His professional duties have certainly kept him busy in
recent months, but even doctors must find creative ways
to fill the time during a global pandemic. Bauer, a self-described
packrat, has a particular affinity for collecting oldschool
wares. “I have a unique ability to transform cash
into antique medical devices and vinyl records. Simultaneously,
I can transform an empty
basement into an overflowing one.”
The only thing Dr. Bauer likes
more than adding new records to
his collection is listening to
them, which he describes as his
favorite thing to do in his spare
time. During the pandemic, however,
Dr. Bauer has found additional
ways to pass the time
and relieve stress, some conventional
and some, well, not so much.
Sure, there is the favorite TV show
(Peaky Blinders), the preferred form of exercise
(cycling) and the curbside delivery guilty pleasure
(Buffalo Wild Wings), but when he really needed to break
up the monotony, Dr. Bauer opted for something a little
more interesting. When it came time for the dozens of evergreen
trees on his property to be trimmed, Dr. Bauer
took matters into his own hands, removing the excess
growth and starting a bonfire from the trimmings. A cozy
campfire, however, this was not. In Dr. Bauer’s estimation,
the flames reached more than 20 feet into the air. ISPA is
still waiting for word from Dr. Bauer about how the
marshmallows turned out.
YEARS
30 STRONG
62 PULSE ■ SEPTEMBER 2020