“It's a time for me to communicate with my kids, it's a time for me to see a different part of the country, and it's a time for me to physically work out some of the frustrations of the office,” Dr. Rushton said. “[These frustrations are] physically taxing to me, and there's a sense of accomplishment when I get done. It's a cleansing of the mind. I come back, and I'm ready to charge forth again at work.”
David Abend, D.O., also finds escape in physical activity. He works out at a nearby gym 3 days a week with a personal trainer, doing circuit training, followed by a half-hour of cardiovascular activity. “I also jog, but not competitively,” said Dr. Abend, who practices family medicine and osteopathic manipulation in Westwood, N.J. “I think you do your patients a great disservice by leading an inactive life.”
Music's another passion for Dr. Abend. “I just got an iPod, and I have about 5,000 CDs, everything from classical to metal music,” he said. “I'm actually a closet metal head.”
He also takes piano lessons and guitar lessons, and he's been to “concerts galore.”
Photos of musicians and athletes adorn the walls of his office, and he shows popular movies in his waiting room. “A doctor is very one dimensional if he doesn't have hobbies,” Dr. Abend said. “In primary care, you're seeing people from all walks of life. I can talk about art one minute or music and sports the next. There's not much I can't talk to you about.”
Dr. Bell of Chicago regards the Chinese martial art of Chi Kung as not only his hobby but also his “survival strategy.” He learned Chi Kung exercises from a martial arts instructor in 1976, and in 1995, he produced his own video, “Dr. Carl Bell's 8 Pieces of Brocade,” which is now available as a DVD (for information, visit www.giftfromwithin.org/html/resource.html
“They're easy to learn and they massage all of the acupuncture points in the body,” he said. “I used to have chronic sinusitis, and I used to do Western exercises. When I started the Chi Kung, my sinusitis went away.”
Over time, he added, the exercises have helped improve his endurance, flexibility, and tolerance for pain, cold, and heat, as well as his memory, thought processing, and affect tolerance. “I'm healthy as hell,” he said.
He was quick to point out that the exercises are not a one-time magic bullet—a detail he conveys in Chi Kung workshops he leads at various psychiatry meetings. “You have to do them regularly,” he said.
Dr. Francis E. Rushton is shown with his two sons Will and Seth at Rae Lakes in California's Sierra Nevada Range. Courtesy Dr. Francis E. Rushton
Pediatrician Masters the Ski Slopes
Ski racer Suzanne Boulter, M.D., flies downhill faster than most other snow skiers her age, and she has the credentials to prove it.
In 2003, she won the women's Masters National Championship in Park City, Utah, in the 55- to 59-year-old age category.
“It's neat at this age to still be working on things and trying to improve and see some results,” said Dr. Boulter, a pediatrician with the family practice residency program at Concord (N.H.) Hospital.
Every Friday between Thanksgiving and the end of March, Dr. Boulter trains in a masters program at Waterville Valley, a New Hampshire ski area where she and her husband own a condo. The training usually alternates between slalom and giant slalom—all in preparation for the 10–15 races she competes in each year, mostly in the Northeast.
Her goal is to “get better technically and translate that into skiing faster in the course,” she said. “Winning the nationals in 2003 was totally unexpected for me. There aren't large numbers of women in the older age groups at the nationals, so there is always opportunity there, but it was very surprising.”
Over the years she's suffered a concussion and her share of broken bones from training and competing on the slopes, but few other sports provide her with the same sense of fulfillment.
“I have this physical outlet on the weekend, then I switch to the workday week, so it's a nice balance,” said Dr. Boulter, a New Hampshire native who started skiing in high school. “When my kids were growing up, I didn't do anything like this,” she said.
Outside of ski season, she stays active by biking and water skiing, playing tennis, and doing aerobics.
“If for whatever reason I could not continue ski racing, I'd still do those other outdoor activities for as long as I could,” she said. “If I couldn't do all of those things, I'd probably read more books and journals.”