Why suicide prevention for medical students and doctors matters....

I launched Whole Human Psychiatry on March 8, 2019, and so far have seen 9 new patients and provided 13 face-to- face plus tele-psychiatry visits which have all been personalized and highly patient centered. This is a faster start than I expected since I am not accepting insurance and I do not participate in any managed care or government affiliated networks. I practice this way because I have decided to get off the managed care bus. I believe managed care is hurting both doctors and patients. The single most significant statistical indicator of success in my new micro-practice is that every one of my new patients so far is 100% awesome. I have had zero no shows and zero requests for between visit refills so far. Every one of them pays their bills on time and they all respect my “no after-hours phone service or crisis calls” policy. Our brilliant friend Nehal Shah MD has been gone 10 years now. She and I were supposed to travel to a rural Latin American hospital that summer after medical school graduation. But of course she never made it to the airport.

I have framed her portrait and made a shrine for her where she brings her beautiful presence to my office. She is young, vibrant and fresh with her white coat, her blue button down shirt and her dark brown eyes. Who could have seen the sadness in this remarkable doctor. Who could have anticipated such a gifted, empathic and capable young woman would leave us before she could serve patients of her own as Dr. Nehal Shah? A major focus of my practice is to end physician suicide. You and I both know why this is so important. I seek to do this through increasing physician empowerment, awareness and resistance to the physical, psychological and moral harms of toxic training and work environments. My ideas about medicine and my own practice model are largely informed by Pamela Wible MD. You likely already know her as a U of A trained family medicine doctor turned physician activist living in Eugene, Oregon, and sought out for TED talks and commencement speeches. More about Pamela and the Ideal Medical Care / Physician Liberation Movement at idealmedicalcare.org

Since my own escape from big box medicine, I do a cash-only, patient centered, psychiatry and psychotherapy micro-practice at my small, cute office on Country Club Road. I am board certified, general adult psychiatrist, licensed in Arizona and Tennessee. My soul' true purpose is to serve humans with joy. This is the reason I founded Whole Human Psychiatry. This is the vision that pulls me forward into the future and connects me with all sentient beings on planet earth.