“Lance Armstrong is a bad guy who has done some very good things.” These are the words of a sports radio personality I listened to yesterday. He was obviously commenting on the confession (to my pal Oprah) by Armstrong about his use of performance enhancing drugs. The sportscaster, along with many I heard talk on [...]
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The following was originally posted on 12/22/2008 (and again in 2010). Given the tragic events of the past week, many might see a disconnect between the Christmas Story and the events of the real world. How can there be joy to the world when the world is one in which children are murdered? How can [...]
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I should be encouraged. I was asked to talk on public radio last week about my new practice, then I was on a panel of “experts” in Washington DC on Monday. Everywhere I talk about what I am doing I get positive reactions. I get very positive reactions, actually. I was approached by someone wanting to [...]
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This is my new office. I signed the lease for this property yesterday – another big step in the process of getting my new practice off the ground. I should feel good about this, shouldn’t I? I’ve had people comment that I’ve gotten a whole lot accomplished in the 4 weeks since I’ve been off, [...]
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There is nothing exciting or glamorous about doing what I am doing: building a new practice from scratch. It’s a slow and often mundane process that takes far longer than it looks like it should. There are a thousand questions I need to answer: Where will my office be? What will my logo look like? [...]
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I cleaned out my office yesterday. I gathered up the outdated pictures of my family, handwritten notes from my children when they were much younger, pictures of patients, notes from patients, and the knick knacks that accumulate over 18 years of being in one place. Most of them were dusty or worn with the tarnish [...]
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Last day of work. Lots of important questions run through my mind: what do I wear? Do I shave? Do I wear sandals? Should I have gotten a haircut? In the office, I see consults on my desktop – consults that really mean very little to me now, as the majority of these patients won’t [...]
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This is it. Eighteen years of practice is now condensed to my final four days seeing patients in the practice I built. While I am not bitter about what has happened (in fact, a large part of me is delighted), there is a sense of finality in this as one of my life’s major passings. [...]
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Probably the hardest part of making the change from a traditional to a direct-care practice is the effect it has on relationships. I am only taking a maximum of 1000 patients (less at the start) and will be no longer accepting insurance. These changes make it impossible for me to continue in a doctor-patient relationship with [...]
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This is my dog Holly giving a prime lesson on how to chill out. Holly spent the past two weeks in northern Michigan on vacation, and is still there right now (lucky dog). I am, however, back to work today for the first time in two weeks. She loves Michigan, as it gives her time to [...]
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