New Orleans Living Magazine
By Maria Muro
Matthew Mutter, M.D., has the same advice for all his male patients. “You have to stop and take care of yourself,” he says. “You have to put the oxygen mask on yourself first before you help those around you.”
With that concept in mind, Dr. Mutter is establishing a men’s health clinic for LSU Health New Orleans. While he focuses on a wide range of men’s urologic concerns such as kidney stones, voiding and erectile dysfunctions, and prostate and other urologic cancers, he will also be collaborating with other LSU physicians like cardiologists, endocrinologists, internal medicine physicians and even primary care physicians to offer comprehensive multidisciplinary care options for men in the area.
Dr. Mutter feels that building this niche in men’s health means an opportunity for men in our region to step up to an improved quality of life and maybe even total wellness. “The things that are bothering you … that you think there are no therapies or fixes for? There probably are,” he says. “There are more treatments available for all aspects of men’s health that a lot of guys don’t even know about.”
Not every solution is surgical. Dr. Mutter can focus on conservative, clinic-based procedures and medication therapies to work toward healing in the least invasive manner feasible.
Being able to work with the top notch physicians in his department fulfills a dream for Dr. Mutter — the men who are now his partners were first his mentors. Their passion, which he observed on rotation as a third year LSU medical student, are what drew him to the specialty in the first place.
In addition, after a urology residency in Memphis and a year as faculty, while his wife finished her Pediatric Emergency Medicine fellowship, he and his family are finally back home again. “We always knew we’d come back,” he says.
And finally, but maybe most importantly, Dr. Mutter is looking forward to teaching — both LSU’s medical residents and his patients. “I like being engaged with people all day,” he says. “You can get that in almost any line of work, but there’s something about being a teacher … every patient and every resident is a chance to educate. Even growing up, I always thought I would be involved in some aspect of teaching, whether medical or not.”
The residents and patients educate him as well. “I like to listen to everything the patient has to say,” Dr. Mutter says. “You gain a little bit of information from everything they say, no matter how mundane it may seem.”
Dr. Mutter’s choice to pursue medicine didn’t come from his parents, but his work ethic did. “Both of them were very hardworking and still are today,” he says. “I still admire how hard they worked to give my sister and I what we have today.” His mother is a dental hygienist and his father is an electrician. His sister works at University Medical Center as an MRI technician.
In his spare time, Dr. Mutter enjoys the outdoors, fishing, time with his wife and kids, and especially cooking. He’s proud to say he picked up a few world-famous barbecue skills, while living in Memphis, and he can’t wait to show off a little for the staff in his clinic.
All barbecue boasting aside, Dr. Mutter remains humble and just wants to make a difference in the lives of his patients. “I like to think that I’m compassionate toward what males go through with their health,” he says. “I don’t think I’ve done anything extraordinary here … but I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished.”
College: LSU, Kinesiology
Medical School: LSU, New Orleans
Residency: Urology, University of Tennessee, Memphis
Dr. Matthew Mutter
LSU Healthcare Network
3700 St. Charles Ave., New Orleans, LA 70115 (504) 412-1520
3601 Houma Blvd., Suite 302, Metairie, LA, 70006 (504) 412-1600