When it comes to medicine, my approach is simple – I try to give each patient the care I would want for a member of my family or for myself. I try to be the “really good doctor” described in my tips on how to find one.
Beyond a doctor, I am an advocate. When a patient’s insurance company denies needed testing, I advocate for them. And because patient care by independent physicians is the most personalized and cost effective care possible, I act as an advocate for independent physicians at both the state and the national level.
My main goal is to find the proper treatment that will improve my patients’ quality of life. I strive to be comprehensive and obtain an accurate diagnosis in order to do that. I don’t just reach for the script pad to get patients out of the office. Each visit takes as long as it takes. I have an advanced practice nurse with me to work the computer, so that my sole focus can be the patient I am with, listening to every glance and change in tone of their voice. When I’m done, neither I nor that patient has any idea how much time it took. Thanks to my years of experience, I’m pretty good at getting it right most of the time. I used to get second opinions from the Mayo Clinic or John Hopkins. But now I find, that I am able to do so on my own more and more. And, I enjoy being the one who figures out the sleep-neck-headache connection in patients who’ve been “everywhere ” and been on every pill and had every injection.
Even with 30 years of knowledge and experience behind me, I’m still learning every day and I have a long way to go. Neurology has just scratched the surface and there is still a lot to discover. But, even as research develops, treatments advance, and methods change, the principles of patient care stay the same. Treat others the way you want to be treated. After all, there’s really nothing like it.