Town where you live: Natick

Family (name of spouse/kids/pets): Anne (Wife) 2 Children ,  Daughter living with her family in Natick as well.  Son and his family in Northern Virginia.

Interestsand hobbies:  Reading, Boating,Photography, Tennis

What do you most like about your work; what do you like least? 

I enteredthe field of Medicine because it allowed me to use my scientific training in anapplied way to help people.  Having nowbeen at this for many years, it never gets old for me.  Every day there are new challenges to be met, both clinical and administrative.  WhileI no longer see patients clinically I have tried to leverage my clinical skillsin the administrative arena so that now instead of helping one patient at atime I can help many. 

The documentation burden for physicians, and all of us in healthcare, has become extraordinary. Computerization has facilitated better record keeping but hasits own issues with regard to changing work flow patterns that have been successful over the years.

What are two memories from yourcareer that stick with you the most?

I am board certified in Internal Medicine and Nephrology.  As such, over the years I have had the privilege of sitting with patients during very difficult times with life threatening illnesses.  It has been extraordinarily gratifying to help them through these difficult times by imparting my knowledge and expertise and just being there for them, to listen and help them navigate through their physically and emotionally difficult times.  No one path is right for everyone.  There has been immense satisfaction for me in helping each patient and patient’s family develop anaction plan that is customized to their beliefs and aspirations.

What are three pieces of adviceyou have for living a healthy life? 

There is no magic here but rather magic in consistent execution.  I have four pieces of advice:

1. Balance – balance in work/relaxation, balance in dietary intake, balance in avoidance of known significant health risk factors – any smoking, excessive alcohol or substance abuse, obesity (a body mass index greater than 20% above ideal).
2. Exercise – making sure you take sufficient time 4-5 times a week to get reasonable exercise.  You don’t need fancy stuff, keep it simple and take a walk.
3. Stress avoidance – easy to say, difficult to do.  Also what is stressful to one individual is not stressful to another. Find those things that press your stress button and find ways of dealing with that stress or ways of avoiding those situations.
4. Do not be passive with your physician – ask questions, get all the information and be a partner in making well informed decisions.  If there is not this give and take you won’t reliably get to the right place.

What are three pieces of adviceyou have for someone considering a career in this field of work?   

1.  Working as a physician has undergone a major cultural change over the last 20 years or so.  We were classically trained to function independently, to be a virtuoso.  Anything less, was viewed as weakness.  We now know that medicine is a team sport.  To be successful you must embrace the notion that all members of the team are important and that all of us are smarter than any of us. Patients are infinitely better served when we approach clinical problems in a multidisciplinary way, rather than individually. 
2. Embrace the medical literature and read critically.  Decisions need to be evidence based when possible but still half of what we do remains empiric without firm evidence.
3. Be a people person and never lose sight of the fact that as a physician you are here to serve, treating people as you would want to be treated.

If you are intelligent, collaborative, inquisitive, and a warm caring person you can have a rewarding career in medicine, having a positive impact on innumerable people over your years at work.