"Assume the Position: Memoirs of an Obstetrician" will place the reader in the shoes of an Obstetrician and Gynecologist with years of clinical experience and training. It will also place the reader in the same stirrups as patients in my office, listening to the trials, tribulations, joys, and fears expressed to me. All women wonder what other women experience when they see their OB GYN physician. All men wonder what his girlfriend or wife will be subjected to when exposed in front of their 'Gyno'. The stresses and strains of a busy professional life on an Obstetrician Gynecologist are revealed in intimate, true detail. The story begins after early retirement from one of the busiest group practices in Phoenix, Arizona and a move to the beautiful high alpine ski town of Telluride, Colorado, after an ultimatum from my wife. From there the story continues to the depths of Africa to explore women's health care in a small country with some of the worst obstetrical and neonatal outcomes in the world. Timely topics subsequently discussed include office life, operating room experiences, the medical malpractice crisis, abortion, the family life of an obstetrician, labor and delivery, night life, the business of medicine, Obamacare, managed care, and life after private practice. Each chapter is punctuated with true, unfiltered vignettes, laughable, joyful, fearful, and tearful, that can only be found in the life of an OB-GYN physician as he goes throughout his day. I am an actively licensed, American Board Certified Obstetrician Gynecologist. A graduate of Princeton University, I was trained at two of the top medical institutions in Philadelphia, after which my wife and I picked up our East Coast roots and moved to begin anew in the desert of Arizona. After 21 years of private practice, involved in all aspects of practice management and women's health care and research, I chose to leave it all behind and begin a second career in expert witness medical malpractice testimony, and then a third career as a medical director. I believe you will enjoy the experience of spending some time in my shoes.
About the Author: Educated and trained at Princeton University, Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital and Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, my wife and I picked up our East Coast roots and re-implanted in the desert of Phoenix, Arizona where I joined a small group practice. Over the next 21 years it expanded to at its peak 14 health care providers, four offices, 80 employees, and became the largest non hospital based health care employer in the State of Arizona. We delivered hundreds of babies each month, performed routine and advanced state of the art surgeries, did in-office non invasive surgeries, and performed over 35 FDA approved phase three protocols for investigational procedures and medications in a Women's Health Research organization I co-founded. I became the Chief Operating Officer of the practice, and began a side venture in the medical malpractice world as an expert witness. With my wife's eventual urging to " get a new life or find a new wife", I reassessed my life, moved with my wife and family to Telluride, Colorado, volunteered for medical service in The Gambia, West Africa, ran for public office in the Telluride Hospital District, and skied a lot. I became my only employee in a successful venture in Ob Gyn consulting while continuing medical malpractice testimony and review, and then ultimately became a Senior Medical Director with review of tens of thousands of medical cases after moving again to California.