Public Health BY JOEY BERLIN


Family physician Mike McLeod, MD, center, talks to Walk With a Doc participants before a September walk in Cuero. Dr. McLeod says Walk With a Doc events give physicians more time to get to know their patients on a personal level.


Foot soldiers


AFTER THREE YEARS OF INITIAL SUCCESS, TMA LOOKS TO EXPAND WALK WITH A DOC TEXAS


A


s straightforward as they might seem, Walk With a Doc Texas events can be a little unpredictable. And if you go to enough of them, something may happen that will stick with you. Walk With a Doc events entail phy-


sicians, their patients, and other locals coming together for regular walks to promote healthier living. Take one particular walk in Georgetown, where Susan Pike, MD, began the first Walk With a Doc events in Texas three years ago. Traditionally, before a


PHOTO BY JIM LINCOLN


walk begins, one of the physicians at- tending will speak briefly on a health- related topic. But at one Georgetown event, Dr.


Pike recalls, one of the physicians scheduled to speak had gotten lost and didn’t arrive at the walk. An over- weight physician participant who’d undergone gastric sleeve surgery stepped up to fill the speaking void. Without any sort of prepared


speech, he grabbed the attention of his fellow participants. He talked about having the surgery and how it was only a tool, not a solution; to improve


November 2015 TEXAS MEDICINE 43


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