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Sandy S. Popham,MD

Primary Service
  • Nephrology
Areas of Interest

Nephrology consultation, inpatient and outpatient nephrology care, hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis and care of transplant patients

Medical School
  • University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN
College
  • Carleton College, BA Biology, Northfield, MN
Residency
  • Internal Medicine, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, DC
Fellowship
  • Nephrology, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, DC
Biography

Philosophy of care
“I believe in a team approach to provide high quality care for my patients with chronic kidney disease that encompasses attention to all facets of good health, including nutrition, physical fitness, and the psychosocial aspects of dealing with a chronic illness.”

Why Dr. Popham went into medicine
“I enjoy working with people to improve their health and wellbeing. Medicine is interesting and challenging, and every day I am able to interact with people who stimulate my mind and touch my soul.”

Favorite advice to give to patients
“Get outside and move!”

Hometown
“My hometown is everywhere. My family is from Appalachia, in West Virginia (as we say, from the banks of the Monongahela River). My father was in the military so we moved a lot until I was 6 years old. Then we landed at Vandenberg AFB in California, where I stayed until I graduated high school. I then moved to Minnesota where I completed college and medical school. The military paid for my medical school, so I did my internship, residency and fellowship in Washington DC. Then I spent four years at Tripler AMC in Honolulu, Hawaii, before moving to Duluth, Minnesota.”

Hobbies
“I enjoy being with my family, hiking, jogging, biking, lifting weights, gardening (I’m a farmer at heart), scrapbooking, reading, knitting, sewing, beekeeping and I’m learning to play the ukulele and scuba dive. I still like tap dance with Stacey’s Studio of dance education, and maybe am at the fifth grade level by now. Good for the balance and coordination as one gets older! I also love to make my “cardiac cookies” and have a cookie ministry where I share these with folks I care about.”

Languages
“I don’t speak anything except English, but I am working on Spanish, which I took in high school, via Rosetta stone, as my children all speak Spanish, and I too would like to be able to communicate in a second language.”

Awards
Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society

St Luke’s Foundation, Physician Friend 2017

Lake Superior Medical Society Physician of the Year 2011

Duluth Superior Magazine “Top Doc” 2009-2014

Elizabeth C Bagley Award for Service to the Medical Profession and the LSMS 2008

County of Douglas Certificate of Recognition for Service to Veterans 2007