Life calls the tune, we dance.”– J. Galsworthy At a time when I was struggling with the ideology of the profession of medicine and what it meant to be a doctor in America I heard the words: “You have such an interesting story, could we talk with you a little more?”
The directors of the movie documentary Escape Fire: The Fight To Rescue American Healthcare asked me to share more of my time and story, but the truth of my experience did not feel so “interesting.” Frankly, I was stressed, confused, disillusioned with my profession and scoring higher on burnout assessment questionnaires.
A few years ago, I received an email from the White House extending invitation from President Barak Obama to submit my thoughts about healthcare reform. I responded in the spirit that it wouldn’t make a difference but it couldn’t hurt.
I shared my thoughts and my response was followed with instructions on protocol and procedures for secret service clearance. Being in the Rose Garden at the White House with other doctors from across the country when President Obama presented “Doctors for Healthcare Reform” lead me to the sobering realization that though we all agreed that healthcare needed to change – there was zero agreement on how.
My Dance Began when…
Later that same evening, while watching Larry King cover the issue of health care reform on his show – I had opportunity to hear Dr. Andrew Weil give his perspectives as a guest on the show. There’s an interesting phenomenon that occurs inside a person walking around believing something but lacking the words to describe it – then someone comes along and speaks those deep thoughts. That’s what Andrew Weil did for me that day.
I sat upright on my couch as I listened and reached for my MacBook. The tune was inspiration and the dance was a rapid, syncopated clacking of my laptop keyboard. “A-n-d-r-e-w W-e-i-l”, I typed into my Google search engine. In that simple dance, I discovered the next thing that would help me get to where I felt like I needed to be in the profession of medicine. Without leaving my couch, I completed an extensive application for the University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine fellowship in Integrative Medicine. A few weeks later, I received notice of my acceptance into the program. I was determined to become the change I wanted to see in the world.
Coming out to the World
Following their initial approach earlier in the week asking to hear more of my story, the movie directors (Matt Heineman and Susan Froemke) approached me again on the last day of my first week in the fellowship. “Do you think we could come to the University of Virginia to film you?” I didn’t know the immediate answer because I hadn’t yet “come out of the closet” over the fact that I was taking up Integrative Medicine – that form of medicine that embraces complimentary and alternative methods right along with standard, conventional medicine. It ended up being well received in my department and the school of medicine and the UVA Health System Public Relations department took it from there.
In April 2010, a generously sized entourage of film crew personnel presented to Charlottesville and followed me around UVA and my private residence for two days. At the time of the filming, the title of the documentary was to be “A Tale of Two Systems: Following a Healthcare Revolution”.
It’s NOT about ME
When you agree to being in a documentary, you agree that your likeness, image, words, etc. can be used for the purpose of the movie – all with no compensation whatsoever. At least that’s what I agreed to. I totally mentally prepared that – even with several days of filming – there might actually be nothing of me in a movie at all. So I forgot about it. In November 2011, I got word from the producers that the film had been picked up for the Sundance Film Festival and the name had changed to “Escape Fire: The Fight To Rescue American Healthcare.”
If you haven’t seen this movie – you must – not because I am in it, but because it advances some of the most compassionate perspectives on healthcare in America. On March 23, 2010 the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was passed by congress and signed into law by President Obama. After many threats and challenges to the law, on June 28, 2012 the Supreme Court upheld the law as constitutional.
You are Part of the Dance
In this instance, the tune for healthcare relates to the absolutely necessary change that needs to take place in America. You are inherently a part of the dance, one way or the other, no matter on which perspective you stand. See this movie and become a part of the ongoing, very crucial discussion on healthcare. It matters to your health, the health of your children and ultimately, the health of our nation.
Stay Tuned!
Please stay tuned for more blogs and updates on areas of health and medicine for which I flow with compassion and purpose – Health Equity, Patient Empowerment, Holistic Health, and Emergency Medicine.
Peace, love, light, wisdom, abundance, joy, balance, harmony, & health to YOU!
Dr. Pamela Ross, MD
