Call it ‘family medicine.’ Muckenhirn kids follow mom to Sanford Health in Detroit Lakes – Detroit Lakes Tribune

DETROIT LAKES

— Recently retired after 42 years as a physical therapist, Brenda Muckenhirn is happy to see two of her children following her into medicine at Sanford Health in Detroit Lakes.

Daughter Kayli Mollberg is now a physical therapist herself, and son Kyle Muckenhirn is an orthopedic surgeon for Sanford, who sees patients in Detroit Lakes as well as Fargo.

Nathan Bowe / Detroit Lakes Tribune

“It’s just the fun dynamic of me stepping into my mom’s role and working with my brother, the orthopedic surgeon,” Kayli said. “They go hand in hand.”

“They got along growing up, hopefully they’ll get along in their profession,” Brenda said with a laugh.

Of the two, Kayli seemed to show more interest in medicine when they were growing up, Brenda said. “Kayli would call me and ask ‘are you almost to the game? Somebody’s hurt,’” Brenda said. “She seemed to be a little more interested in the physical therapy area.”

Kyle’s interest in orthopedic surgery came after he suffered a serious knee injury playing football his junior year in high school. “I tore pretty much every ligament in my left knee,” he said.

“It was the worst injury we’ve ever seen in our clinic, as far as trying to rehab it,” Brenda said.

He ended up spending five or six hours in surgery in the Twin Cities. His orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Robert LaPrade, a complex knee specialist with Twin Cities Orthopedics, made such an impression on Kyle that it led him to become an orthopedic surgeon himself.

Kyle said his knee is pretty good now. “There’s still a foot drop, but I play basketball and recreational sports,” he said.

As for orthopedic surgery, Kyle operates on a range of patients — from young athletes to geriatric cases. “I see a good mix of everybody,” he said. “Athletes, older people, women’s health … Particularly in a small community, you have to do everything.”

But that’s the way he likes it. “That was my goal from Day 1, to come back to the area,” he said.

He is now available to perform surgeries at Detroit Lakes Sanford same-day surgery center, at Perham Health, and at Sanford hospital in Fargo. And he will have surgical privileges at Essentia Health St. Mary’s hospital in November. He is also on the Laker sports medical team.

“The hope is to have him in Detroit Lakes, predominantly,” Kayli said. “They bought a house here — the goal is to be here,” Brenda added.

As for Kayli, she said “since high school, I’ve been involved in athletics — I saw what the trainers did and what physical therapists did. I saw my mom do it and wanted to do it, I wanted to help others get better.”

In high school, she played volleyball and basketball — scoring over 1,000 points in her high school career.

Kyle and his wife, Kayla, who specializes in pediatric occupational therapy, have two boys, Owen, 4, and Rory, 18 months.

Kayli and her husband, Joe, also have two children — daughter Jadyn, 3, and son Jett, 1.

Family patriarch Paul Muckenhirn, a longtime cabinet-maker and owner of Creative Wood Design on Becker County Road 6, recently retired after 40-plus years and is now busy turning the former shop into a duplex, Brenda said.

Brenda herself retired this summer after 42 years as a physical therapist — 28 of those years at Sanford Health Clinic in Detroit Lakes.

Growing up, Kyle learned a lot working with his dad at the cabinet shop, mastering the tools and finesse necessary for fine woodworking.

“I tell people I was born to be an orthopedic surgeon,” Kyle said, “because my mom is a physical therapist and my dad makes cabinets.” Turns out the skill sets for those two occupations are surprisingly helpful in orthopedic surgery. “I’m glad I had that training,” he said.

As for the oldest of Paul and Brenda’s three children, Craig Muckenhirn, he’s quite happy as a business systems consultant manager at Wells Fargo in Minneapolis, and never had any desire to go into medicine, Brenda said.

Kayli brought seven years of experience with her when she started at Detroit Lakes Sanford in June. Brenda retired in July, and Kyle started in August. Also, Dr. Eric Slette, a Sanford Fargo orthopedic surgeon who is a cousin to Kyle and Kayli, started in September. “It’s just fun to be back home,” Kayli said. “My mom was here (at Sanford) for 30 years, hopefully, I’ll be here for 30 years.”

“I was very proud of them for going into medicine,” Brenda said. “It says something about our community that kids want to come back to work here.”

Bowe covers the Becker County Board and the court system for the Tribune, and handles the opinion pages for the Tribune and Focus. As news editor of both papers, he is the go-to contact person for readers and the general public: breaking or hard news tips, story ideas, questions and general feedback should be directed to him.