Thank you for visiting my website
A little about me..........
"It isn’t real work unless you would rather be doing something else"
"It is not in doing what you like, but in liking what you do, that is the secret of happiness"
James M. Barrie
I hope you will find this a convenient way to communicate and consult with me regarding non-urgent matters. As your primary care physician, I am the doctor with whom you will probably spend the most time and whose style and philosophy will help guide your overall health care choices and medical treatments. This is the reason it's important to find someone you are comfortable with personally, and whose experience, education and training make you feel confident. When choosing a PCP you will want to make sure that they have a broad knowledge of medicine and the resources to recommend specialists when needed. Make sure the doctor you have chosen, encourages you to ask questions, explains things clearly and treats you with respect. I sincerely hope I am functioning as that doctor and am meeting your needs.
For the past 6 years my regular practice has been closed to new patients, but my group has some excellent physicians who do have open practices, so please ask for a referral.
I do have a limited number of openings in my Priority Care Practice. You can read up on this by checking the link on the left.
I have been asked by patients if I'm considering retirement. My standard answer is:
Some background information:
I graduated from the University of Cape Town Medical School, South Africa in 1973 and completed my internship at Groote Schuur Hospital, the site of the world's first heart transplant.
I then spent 6 months doing a pediatric senior internship at The Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital in Cape Town.
From September 1975 until July 1976 I did postgraduate studies in London and traveled extensively in Europe.
In 1976 I became a member of the Royal College of Physicians (UK) and then came to the US where I completed my Internal Medicine residency at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (now known as the Brigham and Womens Hospital) in 1976 -1978. This was the site of the world's first kidney transplant.
The American Board of Internal Medicine certified me in 1978.
Since 1979 I have practiced primary care Internal Medicine in the Watertown-Belmont-Cambridge area and for the same period have been a Harvard Medical School Clinical Instructor in Medicine and on the active staff at Mount Auburn Hospital, a H.M.S. affiliated community teaching hospital.
Practicing medicine is my passion. I am dedicated to providing my patients with the best possible care, within a warm and supportive environment. I believe that getting to know my patients as individuals is an integral part of treatment. Its hard to believe that I have now done this for 40 years and despite the stresses of practicing as a primary care physician at this time, I would do it again in a heart beat. This website may, at times, be lighthearted and my patients know that I like to hear a good joke or about a good book or movie, so although I don't take myself too seriously, I take the privilege and responsibility of practicing medicine very seriously.
"When I close the door to the exam room and it’s just the patient and me, with all the bureaucracy safely barricaded outside, the power of human connection becomes palpable. I can’t always make my patients feel better, but the opportunity to try cannot be underestimated."
This quote by Danielle Ofri, MD describes exactly how I feel about what I do.
"I think the joy of medicine is really the relationship with the patients over a long period of time".
Nitin S. Damle, president of the American College
My family and interests:
I have four sons: Greg, Spencer, Dylan and Ian. They range in age from 39 through 20. They are all terrific guys and I am really proud of each of them. I consider myself truly blessed and very fortunate to be their dad. My grandsons, Jonah and Levi, live in San Francisco. I'm also very grateful to have my two siblings and their families living in this area. They are a tremendous source of support. My father at age almost 92 passed away peacefully in his own bed, in his own home with dignity on July 31, 2014. In January 2010, after 64 years, he finally stopped practicing medicine as a general practitioner after he had a mild stroke. He was a tremendous role model and is missed.
For the past 6 years my regular practice has been closed to new patients, but my group has some excellent physicians who do have open practices, so please ask for a referral.
I do have a limited number of openings in my Priority Care Practice. You can read up on this by checking the link on the left.
I have been asked by patients if I'm considering retirement. My standard answer is:
- My dad worked until he was 86 as a family physician
- I still love what I do every day
- My youngest son is 20 and is in his junior year at college, my one son has just started medical school and another is in his last year of law school......I will leave it at that!
Some background information:
I graduated from the University of Cape Town Medical School, South Africa in 1973 and completed my internship at Groote Schuur Hospital, the site of the world's first heart transplant.
I then spent 6 months doing a pediatric senior internship at The Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital in Cape Town.
From September 1975 until July 1976 I did postgraduate studies in London and traveled extensively in Europe.
In 1976 I became a member of the Royal College of Physicians (UK) and then came to the US where I completed my Internal Medicine residency at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (now known as the Brigham and Womens Hospital) in 1976 -1978. This was the site of the world's first kidney transplant.
The American Board of Internal Medicine certified me in 1978.
Since 1979 I have practiced primary care Internal Medicine in the Watertown-Belmont-Cambridge area and for the same period have been a Harvard Medical School Clinical Instructor in Medicine and on the active staff at Mount Auburn Hospital, a H.M.S. affiliated community teaching hospital.
Practicing medicine is my passion. I am dedicated to providing my patients with the best possible care, within a warm and supportive environment. I believe that getting to know my patients as individuals is an integral part of treatment. Its hard to believe that I have now done this for 40 years and despite the stresses of practicing as a primary care physician at this time, I would do it again in a heart beat. This website may, at times, be lighthearted and my patients know that I like to hear a good joke or about a good book or movie, so although I don't take myself too seriously, I take the privilege and responsibility of practicing medicine very seriously.
"When I close the door to the exam room and it’s just the patient and me, with all the bureaucracy safely barricaded outside, the power of human connection becomes palpable. I can’t always make my patients feel better, but the opportunity to try cannot be underestimated."
This quote by Danielle Ofri, MD describes exactly how I feel about what I do.
"I think the joy of medicine is really the relationship with the patients over a long period of time".
Nitin S. Damle, president of the American College
My family and interests:
I have four sons: Greg, Spencer, Dylan and Ian. They range in age from 39 through 20. They are all terrific guys and I am really proud of each of them. I consider myself truly blessed and very fortunate to be their dad. My grandsons, Jonah and Levi, live in San Francisco. I'm also very grateful to have my two siblings and their families living in this area. They are a tremendous source of support. My father at age almost 92 passed away peacefully in his own bed, in his own home with dignity on July 31, 2014. In January 2010, after 64 years, he finally stopped practicing medicine as a general practitioner after he had a mild stroke. He was a tremendous role model and is missed.
- Travel: Love to travel: Visited Budapest in October 2015 and London at the end of March 2016. Aruba in Feb 2017; Charleston and Savannah in April 2017; Poland in Oct 2017 and Mexico City to watch the Patriots play! Had a memorable trip to Italy (Rome and the Amalfi coast) in early October 2018 and visited Australia (Sydney, Great Barrier Reef and Melbourne) in late March of this year. It was a great experience. I met up with guys that I was at school with >50 years ago! In February 2020 I am going back to visit Cape Town after an almost 5 year interval.
- Sports: Almost all, but especially the Patriots. I still occasionally follow rugby and cricket.
- Reading: Especially spy genre, but less fun since the end of the cold war! [Love John LeCarre]
Family genealogy is an interest.
Keeping this site and the Belmont Medical website current and meaningful is also something I enjoy doing. - Movies: [but with a few exceptions usually not horror, sci-fi or martial arts] and some of my favorites include: Casablanca (which I saw on the "BIG" screen on its 70th. anniversary); The Godfather.1+2 [but not 3]; When Harry Met Sally; Annie Hall; Goodfellas; Apocalypse Now; Dr Zhivago; The Big Chill; Pulp Fiction; Gloomy Sunday; Out of Africa; Love Actually; and others I have seen and enjoyed include: The Departed; The Lives of Others; The Namesake; The Black Book; Eastern Promises; Michael Clayton; American Gangster; Atonement; No Country for Old Men; Charlie Wilson's War; The Kite Runner; The Counterfeiters; The Visitor; Slumdog Millionaire; Milk; The Reader; Doubt; The Wrestler; The Hangover; The Hurt Locker; Winter's Bone; Julie and Julia; Invictus; Up in the Air; Its Complicated; An Education; A Single Man; Crazy Heart; The Town; Today's Special; The Social Network; True Grit; The King's Speech; Black Swan; The Fighter; Win Win; Bridesmaids; The Help; Moneyball; Stupid Crazy Love; Hugo (in 3D); The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Midnight in Paris; War Horse; The Artist; A Separation; The Descendants; The Hunger Games; The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel; The Intouchables; Argo; Skyfall; The Silver Lining Playbook; The Sessions; Django - Unchained; Zero Dark Thirty; Searching for Sugar Man; The Way, Way Back; Fruitvale Station; Captain Phillips; Gravity; American Hustle; 12 Years a Slave; The Butler; August: Osage County; Dallas Buyers Club; Philomena; Chef; The 100 foot Journey; Gone Girl; The Judge; Unbroken; The Imitation Game; The Theory of Everything; Whiplash; Spy; Wild; The Martian: Bridge of Spies; Spotlight; Creed; Brooklyn; Come Hell or High Water; Allied; Nocturnal Animals; Arrival; Manchester By The Sea; Fences; Hacksaw Ridge; The Big Sick; Baby Driver; Dunkirk; Darkest Hour; Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, MI; Get Out; The Shape of Water; A Star is Born; Bohemian Rhapsody; Blackkklansman; The Green Book; Once upon a time in Hollywood; The Irishman; Knives Out; Chernobyl (series on HBO); Jack Ryan (series 1+2 on Amazon Prime); Shtisel (series on Netflix); Ozark (series on Netflix); Bodyguard (series on Netflix); The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (series 1+2 on Amazon Prime); A Place To Call Home (series on AcornTV); Peaky Blinders (series on Netflix); Goliath (series 1 on Amazon Prime); Sneaky Pete (series on Amazon Prime); The Crown (series on Netflix); The Night Of (series on HBO); The Night Manager (series on AMC); Outlander (series on Starz); Fargo (series on FX); Narcos - Mexico (series on Netflix); House of Cards (series on Netflix); Downton Abbey (series on Masterpiece Theater and more recently the movie); Homeland (series on Showtime).
- Music: [especially classic R&R (Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin), Motown (Smokey, Aretha, Gladys, Temps, Tops) and Soul (Sam, Otis, Marvin, Wilson)
- People I Admire: Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela......
- People I got emotional about when I saw them: Muhammad Ali...
- Things I can't stand: racism, bigotry, extremism, bullies, people who take themselves too seriously (and that includes some doctors!).....
"Money is honey, but health is wealth"
Patricia Salber
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