20 Years of Medicine

There have been a lot of jokes about how awful a year 2020 has been, with a pandemic, quarantines, police violence, social unrest, and even invasive murder hornets.  However, it’s also the 20^th anniversary of the founding of medaptus.  While I wasn’t here from the beginning, I’ve been with medaptus for almost ten years, and have seen a lot of changes.  As we look back over the last 20 years, despite everything else that’s going on in the world, we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished.  We’re also looking forward to continuing to help make healthcare a little bit better for patients, providers, and health systems.

With apologies to The Beatles, it was twenty years ago today that I began to practice medicine. 

I had just completed my Internal Medicine residency and was taking a year off prior to starting my Clinical Research Fellowship.  I spent the year a few ways.  First, I took the summer off to study for the boards.  Then I did intermittent work as a Locum Tenens hospitalist to facilitate time off for travel.  I had never had the opportunity to travel before, so I wanted to take the time to see a bit of the world before I got locked into my career. 

I got to spend a month in Australia:

The Twelve Apostles in Victoria, Australia

and New Zealand:

Franz Josef Glacier, South Island, New Zealand

In addition, I spent a month in Ecuador (including the Galapagos):

Galápagos National Park

and Peru (including hiking up to Machu Picchu):

Machu Picchu

It was a real highlight to be able to see some of the most beautiful places in the world and have the time off to enjoy them.  To this day, I still fantasize about going back (with family in tow this time) and revisit.

While much of medicine is still the same despite 20 years of advancement (the most common diagnoses for hospitalization in 2000 were heart disease, COPD, cancer, stroke, and diabetes), there are significant changes.  You’d be hard pressed to find a hospital where notes or orders are written on paper, rather than being entered directly into an EHR.  And it might be even harder to find a hospital where PCPs are caring for the majority of the patients rather than hospitalists doing it.  In many ways, my entire career from hospital medicine to medical software development didn’t even exist.  So, while maybe I’m approaching the age where (traditionally) people start to be resistant to change, I’m still excited to see what’s to come.  There are a growing number of dedicated professionals who are devoting their lives to improving healthcare in a systematic way – with a goal of improving health outcomes for all.  I believe at medaptus we’re making our own small contribution to this effort.  And I’m perfectly willing to continue to adapt to the changing world to help achieve these ends.