Q: You’ve worked in both pediatrics and emergency medicine before focusing on prevention. What experiences from those settings shaped the way you practice now?
A: Pediatrics was my first job out of PA School, and fostered in me a love for primary and preventative care as well as building close relationships with my patients and their families. When I moved into Emergency Medicine I missed those aspects of my practice, but I was challenged and grew in ways that I never knew that I was capable of. In pediatrics, kids are brought into the world as relatively blank slates and then by the time they reach adulthood what I was mostly seeing in the ER were adults that were too young in my mind to be as debilitated in their health as they were. It made me start to question, how can we better focus throughout the lifetime on prevention to improve lifelong quality of life and improve the quality of medicine that we provide in the United States.
Q: What first sparked your interest in preventative care?
A: I really think that my time in the emergency medicine setting sparked my interest in preventative care. In the United States, all the focus is put on reactive medicine, or treating the disease process after it’s been diagnosed, and almost no focus is put on prevention or identifying those at risk for disease. During my time in the ER I’ve seen multitudes of patients with overlapping chronic medical conditions leading to poor health outcomes, many of which resulting in long term disability or death. My years in the ER have fostered in me a passion for working hard to prevent people from ultimately experiencing a life altering or life ending event, because unfortunately we see that happen too often.
Q: What stands out to you most about this method compared to what you saw in emergency and acute care?
A: Emergency and acute care is all reactionary, while BaleDoneen is focused on prevention!
Patient Communication and Clinical Insight
Q: What do you say to patients who feel “healthy” but may have hidden risk?
A: I make sure to tell them that though it can be stressful and anxiety provoking to hear that they may have something concerning in regards to their health, but they have the unique benefit of identifying it hopefully before it causes symptoms or becomes a problem, and now with the help of BaleDoneen Method can focus on fine tuning their preventative strategies and be monitored very closely to ensure we stabilize their disease in order to prevent concerning progressions in the future.
Telemedicine and The Patient Relationship
Q: You now work with patients virtually. How do you help them feel supported and cared for even from a distance?
A: During our initial lab review, I make sure that they are at least able to see my face over zoom. I let them know I am always accessible for follow up questions and make sure to have some conversations over email, but can always arrange for a phone call or another zoom meeting for more discussion.
Q: How do you help someone stay engaged with their health even when life is busy or stressful?
A: Part of enrolling in ongoing care means that I become your accountability partner. I’ll send my patients regular reminders of the changes I recommended to them, remind them to get their labs drawn, etc. I usually start these conversations over email, so as not to take away from their day but we can always have a follow up phone call if they have time for it!
Universal Questions
Q: What do you wish more people understood about preventing heart attacks and strokes?
A: That it is critical to identify those at high risk, focus on prevention, and very closely and regularly monitor so that we can detect changes that may signify increased inflammation and impending risk of an event.
Q: What’s one simple change patients can make today to improve their heart health?
Q: What do you love most about working with patients using the BaleDoneen Method?
A: Building relationships that are ongoing with them and giving patients hope!
