My journey to fulfilling my childhood dream of becoming a physician

I always knew I wanted to be a doctor. I grew up in a tight-knit community in rural North Carolina where neighbors became family if they weren’t already. My father was a pharmacist for 43 years, and I spent most of my afternoons and weekends hanging out in our mom-and-pop shop. When a patient needed a prescription filled after spending Saturday night in the ER, my dad would meet them Sunday morning on the way to church. His mentorship and the mentorship of a local physician, with whom I would eventually share a practice, ignited a passion for medicine in me that still burns brightly today.

For me, healthcare was never a profession but a calling – an opportunity to make a positive impact on the community I call home. Even though I knew very early on I wanted to be a doctor, my journey to becoming a doctor was anything but typical.

When I didn’t get accepted into a U.S. medical school immediately after graduation from UNC-Chapel Hill, I took a chance and applied abroad. I began my study of medicine at the American University of the Caribbean on the island of Montserrat in the British West Indies. I was a terrified 21-year-old in a less-developed country seeing things I’d never imagined.

While studying in Montserrat, there was a catastrophic volcano eruption. We were evacuated to Belize, where I was able complete my second year. Years three and four would have taken me to London, but I’d had more than enough of island life. So, when an opportunity to transfer to East Carolina University arose – contingent on me passing the boards – I buried my nose in books, and two years later I graduated, a doctor and a Pirate.

I completed my residency in Greensboro at Moses Cone Health System, followed by an extra year of fellowship at Women’s Hospital in Greensboro – a critical part of my sixth-grade plan to return to my hometown to rural primary care with low-risk obstetrics. After delivering 600+ babies, I felt ready. I finally had the privilege of returning home to realize my lifelong dream of working shoulder-to-shoulder with my childhood doctor and mentor.

For the first eight years, I worked 100 hours a week. I took care of my patients in the office. I took care of them in the hospital. I delivered many more babies. I worked in the emergency room every other Thursday night. I oversaw our cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation program and respiratory therapy department. And I was on call every other night and every other weekend.

As a kid, I found inspiration in the contributions a physician makes in a community. But it was only after the better part of a decade of practice that I grasped the personal sacrifices they make. Although I’d always intended to spend my entire career serving the 25-bed hospital in the town my family called home for generations, I was fully aware of the toll my work was taking on my wife and kids and myself.

My life changed in 2009 at a charity golf tournament in my hometown. By chance, I was paired with Carl Armato, the CEO of Novant Health. I’m not sure my golf swing made an impression, but my story did. At the end of the day, he gave me his business card. The decision to join Novant Health was a difficult decision, six months in the making. But I could not have made a better choice.

When people ask me how Novant Health is different from other healthcare systems, it’s hard to put into words. But it is different. And I can tell you that because I've trained at other healthcare systems and worked with tremendous healthcare professionals. But what makes Novant Health special is the culture – the focus on delivering remarkable patient care, shared by everyone from our doctors to our clerical teams to our CEO.

For many of my patients, a Novant Health facility isn’t always the closest for a given procedure. But I promise them if they invest the time to give Novant Health a chance, they will experience the difference. Increasingly over the past 13 years, I have patients tell me they only want to see a Novant Health provider or have surgery done at Novant Health.

Novant Health operates in some very competitive markets, and that competition forces us to be better. A large part of our success has been the result of the need to develop a culture where the best people want to come to work. I believe the Novant Health team gives more and cares more than any other healthcare team that I've ever been around. I love telling people I work for Novant Health because of how we deliver care.

I’m so excited to work with Marissa Michaels as the newly appointed physician dyad partner for Novant Health Employer Solutions (NHES). When I wake up and head to work as a physician, I know I’m making a difference in our community. Of course, a doctor can only see so many patients in a day. Working with Marissa and NHES, I can expand my personal impact by helping businesses remove barriers to care by bringing healthcare into the workplace.

I’ve long believed the physician-administrator “dyad” partnership is the secret sauce of Novant Health. Although Novant Health is a not-for-profit health system, it faces the same financial pressures as other organizations of its scale. By pairing each administrative leader with a physician leader, throughout the organization, the dyad approach ensures that all business decision makers have the benefit of a clinician perspective.

An accomplished business leader, Marissa has a proven track record partnering with employers to keep their workers well. But she’s not a physician. That’s my role. I feel fortunate to be able to contribute my unique perspective on patient-centered care. I know how hard my patients work juggling the daily demands of life, work and family. I see it every day. And I’m eager to work with Marissa and NHES to support businesses who share that mission.

I have also seen firsthand the profound impact that supportive employers can have on the well-being of their workforce. These organizations understand that a healthy employee is a happy, productive employee. They recognize that investing in the health of their team members not only reduces healthcare costs and absenteeism, but creates a culture of wellness where people want to work. And that’s not just good for patients. It’s good for business.