Under The Monkey Bars
(This post is replicated from the blog site, www.UnderTheMonkeyBars.com, where Dr. Su was invited to be a guest blogger on March 25, 2015.)
Hi – my name is Mark Su. I’m a family medicine physician in Newburyport, Massachusetts, where I reside with my family. Christine has invited me as a periodic guest blogger, which I am certainly privileged and honored to be part of Under the Monkey Bars!
As a physician, I am passionate about educating and empowering my patients first and foremost, but also anyone who has the interest and motivation to take charge of their health. Regularly, I have patients and friends say to me, “I’m sure you hate it when people read stuff on the internet…” to which I always respond, “No, actually, I don’t mind it at all!” Why? Because although the internet can be a two-edged sword with both beneficial information and misinformation, I am a believer that over time, we are becoming more savvy at interpreting the information we glean from web surfing. We are recognizing what content is more valid or accurate, and what content is suspect or just plain false. Quite frankly, I’ve found my patients to be far more commonly on-target than misinformed from their internet reading to date, and I only expect that ratio to further improve.
This is a huge reason why I am happy to participate in this blog. I know Christine well enough to support and validate her as a productive contributor to the world of the internet, with her real-world experiences as a wife, mother, and caretaker of her family, not to mention herself. Truth be told, Christine has a great deal to offer other families and individuals who have or will struggle with similar health matters as she has experienced. There’s no need to re-invent the wheel. Christine has put in a lot of time and effort in doing the legwork, and now you stand to gain!One of my father’s most common sayings to me when growing up was, “Mark, we all have to learn to adapt and be flexible.” And indeed, the world of health and medicine is changing. As someone who is comfortable with the “art” of medicine (the “grey” between the black and white, if you will), I am stimulated by that changing dynamic. I’m a believer that most, if not all, reasonably professional physicians can guide and treat patients with the principles of mainstream medicine. I believe I am called to go above and beyond that. I can bring value to patients, or to this blog, by presenting educational material that is perhaps:
– more “cutting edge” (i.e. functional medicine or genetic medicine oriented)
– more of a mix with alternative or lifestyle medicine (i.e. focus on the importance of nutrition, fitness, detox/cleanse practices)
– or exploring the deeper layers of what ultimately drive our healthcare decision-making processes: our life priorities and philosophies, our self identities, our perspectives on life and death, our fears, our loves.The world as we know it is constantly changing. The internet stands at the forefront of this principle. The medical community only stands to lose by fighting this. On the contrary, I’ve jumped in, embraced this evolution, and stand arms locked with those like Christine who can help others from a real-world, daily grind position of knowledge and experience, to empower our communities both local and distant.
This information was written without instruction or content request by Christine, and solely offered with my own volition. I look forward to adding further value to Under the Monkey Bars, educating and empowering you in the healthcare arena, while being continually stimulated by her and others’ life journeys.