APRIL 9, 2022

It is important for doctors to remember the reason that we have customers… Patients are the customers that seek out our services because of an ailment or physiological need and our job is to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of their condition. It is truly an honor to serve in this role. However, it is quite challenging! From time constraints to cumbersome electronic systems to declining reimbursement and increased oversight and liability, it is easy for the doctor to lose track of the ultimate reason that he/she has a job.

I, too, have felt the burden of the bureaucracy and external pressures that are ever-present. When that happens, I try my best to tune in to the most pressing issue before me: serving my patient and understanding his/her needs. I am a pain management specialist and as such I deal with physical (and emotional) hurt all the time. The weight of my patient’s needs is heavy for sure. But I smile because I bring a little light into the sometimes dark world that my patients live in.

APRIL 28, 2022

As a physician, I am often faced with decisions that affect how someone lives. I work as a pain management specialist and it is my job to help diagnose and treat the person’s pain. There is never enough time or enough answers from the tests to make a perfect diagnosis or formulate a perfect treatment plan. Even so, within this imperfect system, I strive to develop a plan that makes sense for each patient. It is exciting and difficult. It is an honorable mission and I am thankful to use my mind and my hands to improve the lives of so many others.

Because of the subjective nature of pain and an individual’s experience, there is no such thing as a copy-and-paste approach to pain management. Yes, there are protocols and guidelines that inform physicians and medical professionals on how to treat similar disease states. But we have to apply that general knowledge to each patient to make a plan that makes sense. And over time, as the pain changes, so too, does the treatment plan. I tell my patients that my goal for them is to “graduate them” from my practice; the goal is to help them conquer the pain so that they no longer need my services…