According to a recent survey of primary care physicians, The New England Journal of Medicine reports in their March, 2010 issue, that nearly half of physicians would leave the medical profession if a public option for health care were passed in Congress. While no one thinks there will be a mass exodus, physicians and medical professionals maybe looking for new ways to earn a living.
Writing Nurses
In Georgia, many medical professionals have either retired and write or write within their field. Nurses who have taken up the pen after they put down the blood pressure cuff are successful writers like Anne Webster, Ellen Taber and Ellen Ulken . These women were trained as nurses, but now write poetry, non-fiction and novels. Anne Webster was nominated for a National Book Award for her collection, A History of Nursing. Ellen Taber was recently nominated for a Georgia Author of the Year Award for her cultural history books on Tybee Island. Ellen Ulken, trained at Piedmont Hospital School of Nursing now writes non-fiction.
Doc Hollywood
Georgia has its share of former doctors now in the writing profession. Doc Hollywood, starring Michael J. Fox was based on a book by Dr. Neil Shulman from his experience as a young doctor at Grady Hospital in Atlanta. Dr. Shulman, an Assoc. Professor in the Dept of Medicine at Emory University Medical Schoo works relentlessly as an author and publisher of his many award winning books. A new author, another Grady Hospital trainee is retired cardiologist Dr. Jerald Lee Watts in his Georgia Author of the Year nominated book, Promises Kept: A Southern Surgeon's reflections of mid twentieth-century medicine. The current nominations for the 46th Georgia Author of the Year Awards (GAYA) include many doctors, nurses and even an optometrist - Dr. Jennifer Jabaley, who wrote Lipstick Apology for young adult readers.
Writing to Heal
In keeping with the hypocratic oath, many doctors publish to help their current patients. Such is the case with Dr. Scott Isaacs. Dr. Isaacs is the Medical Director of The Intelligent Health Center in Atlanta Georgia. He is an endocrinologist who has studied the effects of leptin and hormonal imbalance on the body. In 2006, his book, The Leptin Boost Diet was nominated for a Georgia Author of the Year Award. His books and his practice are focused on helping men and women with hormonal imbalance, leptin resistance and diseases like diabetes and hypo-thyroidism. People who have tried every diet have succeeded on Dr. Isaacs' medically supervised diet. "Published Results Show: 62 lbs average weight loss for patients after 21 weeks on the HMR very low calorie diet program. Data collected from three groups of patients treated at the HMR program, University of Kentucky." This program is the answer for many who can not lose weight in traditional weight loss programs. Dr. Isaacs has several other books that explain the complicated relationship between or hormones and weight management. His books are recommended by Jillian Michaels of The Biggest Loser.
Writing Careers for Atlanta's Medical Professionals
Those who have been and will be helped by doctors like Scott Isaacs can only hope that the numbers reported by the New England Journal of Medicine are inflated. We need more physicians who care enough about reaching their patients and beyond their patients. Doctors and medical professionals have the research skills and focused training that would make the transition to the writing profession easy. Doctors and nurses have knowledge they can write about that can effect change, if not save a life. In this case, the pen may be mightier than the stethoscope.
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