Good morning!
On Tuesday, I had an interesting discussion with one of our newest residents, James François. James is a brilliant young man from Haiti.
It was 4:15 p.m. shortly after we all finished nine hours of rounding on a rather long list of patients. For their level of training, the interns and residents are doing very well.
I had just returned to my office to focus on research. For those of you who have not seen my cardiology office, the room is dominated by a pair of over-stuffed mahogany soft faux leather chairs and it smells like a Colorado pine forest just before a heavy rain. I had already traded the white coat for my satin smoking jacket and my sore feet were securely propped up on my hand-carved black walnut desk. My wind down for the day had begun as it always does, with a corn cob pipe in my right hand and a Shirley Temple in my left. Then, just as I sat down with my stack of Archie comics, the door opened. I wonder why he didn’t knock? I met James for the first time Monday, and I liked him – great sense of humor and again, very smart.
“Busy day, huh? After you left, the team told me you started the walkadoc thing. I had heard about it before, but I just checked your website. You guys have a lot of chapters?”
“Check out the next block in the newsletter, James. Now we are blessed with even more. Fire away”
“Do you mind if I turn the music down?” He was already walking past my chair to the console.
I recently found a Motown station on Spotify that I like.
He didn’t wait until he fully returned from the stereo to get started. His voice was now softer that he wasn’t competing with Stevie Wonder.
“So you guys go every week or every month, right? This is not like an annual fundraising walk, right? This is different than those?”
Why does everyone use the word ‘so’ to start sentences anymore? I’m just as guilty.
“Yeah, we have a differ….”
“You, guys are TOTALLY different. Almost opposite. My understanding is that their approach is to raise as much money as possible. Then, feed the cash to the researchers so they can work on new treatments and cures for their diseases of interest.”
“That’s generalizing but pretty accurate and thank goodness they do that.”
“Right on. So here’s the way I understand YOU guys. You guys never charge anyone. Ever. Walk with a Doc says, ‘Hey, 80% of cardiovascular disease is preventable. You can get rid of 80% of heart disease for free – so why not start their? You guys help Bill or Susan see the way and you’re walking right alongside them at the park. Just put on a pair of shoes, walk 20-30 minutes a day, and that’s all you need to do.”
“I would’ve spelled ‘their’ t-h-e-r-e in that usage, but other than that, yes that’s exactly correct”
“Wait, I’m not done,” James said.
“Sure”
“So, Walk with a Doc says: Let’s first wipe out 80% of cardiovascular disease, 50% of Alzheimer’s, 47% of arthritis, 58% of diabetes, 53% of breast cancer with stuff we already do every day. Stuff that is enjoyable, even can give you a buzz, and only 5-10% of the public is doing. Then, we can use all that money from these organizations to treat the hard stuff that no one has found a cure for yet. When you guys are walking each week, you are actually curing all those diseases AT THAT TIME. You cut out the middle man. You guys are live-action, wipe it out now, talk about it later.”
“You’re a quick study, James”
“Wait, if you don’t ever charge, how do you keep the lights on?”
“We collaborate with groups that share our vision with groups like the Texas Medical Association, AARP, and the Hass Avocado Board. They make the movement possible.”
“Of course. That makes a lot of sense. Dr. Sabgir, I have to say the Shirley Temple doesn’t shock me but I’m surprised to see you smoking a pipe?”
So, then I blew a soap bubble from my pipe to make sure he knew it wasn’t tobacco.
Happy Friday!
David
Disclaimer: This was a fictional encounter with a fictional resident physician. I don’t have a personal office, let alone any soft mahogany leather chairs or black walnut desks. No smoking jacket either. It’s okay, I’m still very happy.
