Dr. Petar Bajic
Dr. Petar Bajic
Occupation: Urologist, fellowship-trained sexual medicine specialist at Cleveland Clinic
Location: Cleveland, Ohio, United States
The Sex in My Business: I am a urologic surgeon specializing in sexual medicine and genital reconstructive surgery. That means I treat men with all forms of sexual dysfunction, including erectile dysfunction, penile curvature (known as Peyronie's disease), buried and retractile penis, premature ejaculation, ejaculatory/orgasmic dysfunction, testicular pain, low testosterone and infertility. I also treat urination problems (like urinary incontinence) and many other kidney, bladder, testicle and prostate issues.
A Typical Day: About half of my time in the office is spent seeing patients and treating them with medical and behavioral therapies, and the other half performing surgeries. These might include procedures from a simple vasectomy to complex genital and urethral surgery. Much of my work is corrective surgery, such as inserting penile implants for erectile dysfunction, penile straightening for Peyronie’s disease, or repairing a buried/retractile penis. I also perform microsurgery, including vasectomy reversals, varicocelectomies and microscopic nerve surgeries for chronic testicular pain. Finally, I spend a great deal of time conducting and publishing research, aimed at developing new ways to better care for those with sexual dysfunction.
The Best Part: My favorite part of the job is making my patients feel comfortable enough to talk about very intimate and often embarrassing sexual problems. Make no mistake — sexual dysfunction is very, very common. Nearly every person will experience some form of it in their lifetime. Being an active and engaged listener is very important to me in my practice; I take great pride in making sure that my patients understand the reason for their problem — and also that we have a way to fix it. The internet is full of useful and not-so-useful information, and it is almost impossible to know which is which. So, the best advice I can give to people out there is this: don't hesitate to see a physician, even if your problem is sensitive or intimate. We really have seen it all. Your confidentiality is always our top priority, and you should never hesitate to get a second, third, or even fourth opinion.
The Worst Part: My patients' insurance companies often get in the way of them receiving the treatment they need, and that is my least favorite part of the job. Unfortunately, even in 2020, many insurance plans do not offer coverage for sexual and reproductive disorders. I’ve even become active in patient advocacy in order to help address this problem, and I recently traveled to Washington DC to lobby Congress for expanded care to urology patients, including infertility coverage for veterans.
How I Got Here: I’ve always liked working with my hands and once I hit medical school, it became clear to me pretty quickly that I wanted to be a surgeon. I was drawn to urology through the influence of several great mentors, people I met early in my career whom I looked up to and wanted to emulate. Urology also has tons of neat gadgets including lasers and surgical robots, so as a life-long video gamer, that part was really exciting to me. During my urology training I gravitated towards sexual medicine because I found that I enjoyed helping patients restore their quality of life, which was often devastated by cancer diagnosis and treatment). It gives me a great sense of happiness knowing that I help people with the most sensitive and intimate problems imaginable.
What Society Thinks: Unfortunately, people don't seem to trust physicians in this day and age the way they used to 100 years ago. Because of this, I think it’s easy to become cynical as a physician in this day and age, especially with the burden that the healthcare system and insurance companies put on both patients and physicians. However, I make an active effort on a daily basis to maintain a positive attitude and always put my patients first. There is a lot of misinformation out there, and one of my passions is to improve the average person's access to reliable, evidence-based materials. I try to use the distrust some patients have for doctors as motivation to show them that we really are here to help, and I will listen to them and do everything in my power to help them, no matter what their issue might be. I am convinced that my generation of physicians, through engagement on social media and other avenues, can help people recognize that there are well-studied, safe, and effective treatments for their medical problems.
When I’m Not At Work: My favorite hobby is definitely traveling with my wife — we try to take one to two international trips a year to new destinations. I also really enjoy the foodie scene here in Chicago, lifting weights and binge-watching Netflix.
Published in Issue IV: Activism