From Writer to President: The Road Less Traveled

摘要

In my office, on the wall across from my desk, hangs a print drawing of a New Yorker cartoon depicting a small girl holding a piece of chalk, which reads, "I try to write a little bit every day." So it has been for me ever since I was first invited to pen a column for the newly launched publication, Neurology Today?, 2 decades ago. At the time, I had no idea that the request would lead to a second career in journalism, multiple editorships, and hundreds of bylined stories about neurology, neurologists, and people with neurologic conditions for years to come. Before I began to write, I had been working as a general neurologist in a full-time practice in Tarrytown, New York, resolutely determined to learn the business side of medicine from the ground up. A 2-year stint as a member of a New York-based independent practice association's board of directors led me to recognize that a vast knowledge gap divided practicing physicians and payers and other members of corporate America. We lacked the language needed to communicate effectively and the business skills to help us negotiate for better reimbursement. After many disappointing meetings at which we were unable to fulfill requests from insurers for outcome measures or provide any type of quality data, I decided to go to business school. I chose the University of Connecticut's executive MBA program, which met on weekends and allowed me to continue to run my practice. Graduating in 1999, I eschewed banking and other corporate opportunities because I still loved clinical neurology best. Instead, I approached a member of the American Academy of Neurology's (AAN) Medical Economics Subcommittee and asked if there could be a place for me on it.