Hooked on Primary Care with Lori Heim, MD, USAF Col (Ret.)

Lori Heim

Starting medical school, I was going to pursue cardiology. I worked in the cardiac care unit as a nursing aide and in nursing school, but then in medical school, I was attracted to most of the rotations. There was the intensity of surgery and ER, the inquisitiveness of internal medicine and the compassion of pediatrics. I considered radiation oncology, not because of a love for it, but because it would have been convenient for family reasons.

Then I went to Georgia for a family medicine rotation where I met an amazing woman, Jeanette South-Paul, MD, who showed me that the specialty of family medicine incorporated all of my professional desires. I saw in my family medicine colleagues the intellectual curiosity and competency that I could develop as a professional caring for people and for communities. The more that I explored what family medicine was and since, the more grateful I am that I chose a path that allows me to help people through incredibly hard times with compassion combined with the science.

A family physician is trained to be a balance between what is known and what is unknown, what is science and what is compassion; that is what I love about my specialty.

Lori Heim, MD, USAF Col (Ret.)
Past president, American Academy of Family Physicians