I believe in slow medicine, in the luxury of time and in treating each patient as she or he deserves to be treated—with care, patience, honor and humility.
Philosophy
After years of 10 or 15 minute appointments and rushed consultations, I wanted to get back to the kind of doctor I started out being: a physician who had time to make every one of my patients feel as if they were a member of my family. Now, in my private practice, my patients can reach me 24/7, take time sharing their concerns and give me time to ask the proper questions, order the necessary lab work and review the results for a thorough and accurate diagnosis, exactly as I was trained. By limiting the number of patients in my practice, I have the luxury of time to treat my patients well by treating them better.
Redefining the Art of Medicine
A dear friend and poet, Wilmer Mills, wrote that “time is where we are simultaneously most human and most divine.” I feel, as Mills does, that if we indulge in time to understand the complex tapestries of life, we can better understand the world around us. The same is true in the practice of medicine. I find that if I slow down my practice to understand the complexities of each human body, I can better diagnose what ails it.
Dr. Victoria Sweet calls for the practice of slow medicine in her book God’s Hotel. She compares physicians to gardeners who tend plants carefully and lovingly, coaxing them to a healthy and vital outcome. I couldn’t agree more.