As time went on, I found that what I liked doing most was educating my patients. I liked taking complex medical concerns and putting them in terms that my patients could understand. Often, I’d even do rudimentary diagrams to help illustrate a concept. My drawings were bad, but I managed to communicate with my patients in ways that they grasped. And they kept coming back.
I also developed an interest in alternative approaches and tried to combine these with traditional practices whenever I could. To educate myself along these lines, I completed a fellowship in integrative medicine.
As a family doc, I also spent a good deal of time on the phone communicating with other health professionals. On any given day I’d speak with other physicians and specialists, pharmacists, hospital administrators, health insurance managers, and representatives from pharmaceutical and medical device companies.
I’ve been a writer since I was ten years old. In fourth grade I was worried about getting a cavity filled at the dentist, so I wrote a version of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” that involved ghosts showing a kid his teeth’s past, present and (dire) future if he didn’t get his act together and start brushing and flossing. It won an award at my school, and I’ve continued to love writing.
Bottom line — I speak the language of patients as well as health care providers and businesses. I am comfortable communicating about traditional health care, and I also love talking about and explaining alternative approaches.
