NOT YOUR TYPICAL DOC: DR. DANA BRANER
Growing up, Dr. Dana Braner dreamed of becoming a comedian. His father, a used car salesman, loved comedy and so Braner set out to become one, even going so far as to major in drama in college. Today, Braner, the physician-in-chief at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, spends his off time performing at improv nights and flying a plane painted like a killer whale.
Dr. Braner’s alarm goes off at 5 a.m., he opens his laptop and checks on his patients via computer. He checks their labs from the past night, plays Wordle and then gets up and lets his dogs out. Later at the hospital, one may find him checking in on patients, hanging with one of the hospital facility dogs, Davis, teaching classes at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) or working at Doernbecher.
At Doernbecher, Braner is focused on advocating on behalf of children for greater pediatric care in Oregon. Oregon has one of the lowest levels of health care service deliveries, and for kids, it is even lower, Braner said. He said his biggest struggle is working to make sure kids get every advantage they possibly can in a low-resource environment. But, he added that the kids that get better are “literally” what keep him coming back to work.
“There is no better feeling than taking a child from critical illness to wellness,” Braner said. However, the pandemic has caused a refocusing in goals at the hospital, including Braner’s own personal goals. The misinformation spread surrounding the impact of COVID ramifications for kids is one of the problems the hospital, and Braner, want to tackle. He said he hopes he is able to straighten out the facts and provide families with the truths surrounding the virus.
Currently, he is working to get kids access to COVID vaccines and educate the world on the effects of COVID in kids. He said he hopes to get the hospital back on track and continue to be Oregon’s primary research, educational, clinical and advocacy organization for children.
Besides advocating for children, he also works to advocate for his employees. He is passionate about making the work environment a joyful one. “Making sure that the work environment is a place where they [employees] go to work looking forward to doing the job … is extremely important,” he said, “because the work itself is spectacularly important.”
“He is just always trying to make your day better and your life easier,” said Michael Rorabaugh, assistant vice president for development at Doernbecher and OHSU. Rorabaugh, who works alongside Braner frequently, described working with him as “amazing.” He said that it is hard to find people with that kind of passion.
Braner has a vision for OHSU and Doernbecher and wants to continue to make it better and make a tangible impact on the families he works with. “Passionate. Visionary. Humble” said Rorabaugh when asked to describe Braner in three words, “he is just a really, really special person.”
However, Dr. Braner almost didn’t become a doctor. He was pursuing his dreams in comedy when one night during his intern year, he went to a comedy competition. Braner ended up leaving the competition early because the hospital had some “incredibly sick” kids. He was able to take care of them effectively and they all did extremely well. He said that just the comparison of that night made it clear that he had chosen the right career path. Plus, he “absolutely sucked on stage.”
Today, he still gets to live out his childhood dreams by attending and competing in improv nights regularly. He said people who know him may say he is a terrible comedian, but Rorabaugh disagrees and said he is “full of random jokes.” In his limited amount of free time, he has also earned his pilot license and loves to fly his plane he calls “The Whale,” because he had it painted like Shamu.
“He’s not your typical doc,” said Rorabaugh. People may know him as Dr. Dana Braner, physician-in-chief at Doernbecher. But, those who get to know him, know he is much more than that: comedian, pilot, advocate and last but not least, doctor.
