David McAnulty, MD

My family was a multicultural, blended family and my sister struggled with congenital heart failure as a child. She died when I was 8 years old and that experience became a defining moment in my life.

In 8th grade when asked to choose a career path, I knew that it would be either a disc jockey or a doctor, but the surprising realization that I had difficulty understanding the lyrics to songs cut short my road to disc jockey. School provided opportunities to explore and excel in a multitude of subjects, but driver’s education was difficult. I suspect not having a car growing up had a lot to do with that shortcoming! We had a limited lifestyle, but those struggles never circumvented me from pursuing goals. However, it did give me a strong appreciation of the difficulties income challenged patients face in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I knew pursuing a life dedicated to medicine and teaching others healthy habits was a chance for me to do something good for others and feed my soul. I thrive on change and diversity and continue to pursue learning opportunities. New technology and ideas shared with students and patients keep me eternally excited.

My patients come from all walks and stages of life. I treasure my involvement with patients at the beginning of life as much as the patients and their families who are engaged in an end of life transition. These are very delicate times of life.

Often patients come to me with complex issues. I enjoy the sleuthing that it takes to design solutions for patients whose medical issues are overwhelming. Listening to patients, taking care of them emotionally and physically allows me a chance to share their successes and struggles and collaborate with them to design ways to achieve an optimal healthy lifestyle.

My young adult patients are inquisitive about the best ways to care for their health. In these visits, we discuss the significance of maintaining healthy habits and instill in them the importance of making good choices at this time in their lives to help them lead a healthy adult life. It is my honor to build these strong relationships so my patients confide in me as they do a friend.

I encourage all my patients to schedule their annual physicals. This is always a good opportunity to teach age appropriate health goals.

My advice:

• Exercise regularly – doing something that keeps your body moving forward. Change it up, but keep moving!
• Develop good eating habits – eat organically and if that is not an option, make it a point to stay away from processed foods and stay balanced.
• Design your life around healthy habits – avoid tobacco, seek emotional help when you need it, and remember to set goals for yourself so you continue to move forward.

I think that I am a better physician now that I have a breadth of knowledge and have gone through struggles, aches, and pains. I have a better understanding of patients’ hurdles and feel even more equipped with solutions based on my experiential knowledge. I can also now understand why my physician mentors had a difficult time deciding when to retire. After multiple years in medicine, the knowledge base is extensive and that brings with it a chance to help even more people more effectively.