Hello lovely people!
It’s a pleasure to meet each of you reading this blog today! I’m Dr. Marsha-Gail Davis. Dr. Davis or Dr. D for short.
On the surface I’m a primary care physician and preventionist. Under that I’m an island girl blessed to do what I love everyday. At the heart, I’m just a vessel to make this world better.
I’m new to the Big Picture Learning community but in this short time that I have been able to spend with the BPL family, I am drawn to the energy of this community of bold and brilliant students, advisers and leaders.
The essence of BPL speaks to my nature and the way I want to show up in the world and contribute to the world. So where do we connect?
BPL wants to solve problems left unsolved. Check!
BPL is comfortable walking its own path and challenging the status quo. Check!
BPL is innovative and creative. Check!
BPL is committed to equity for marginalized communities so equity is a reality for everyone. Check!
So I am really just finding kindred spirits here.
Ok, so Dr. Davis, you still haven’t told us your story.
Oki doks, so once upon a time, there lived a likkle (Jamaican Patois for “little”) brown skin girl who looooved science so much that she.......Oh, my bad, you don’t mean that kind of story.
I’ll just make it short and sweet!
I’m a primary care physician (which happens to be the best flavor of doctor in the world by the way) and a preventionist. What does that actually mean?
As a primary care internist I am trained in the specialty of internal medicine, which means I take care of adults as young as 18 and as old as 100. If there is any issue that pops up in the body, I am trained to handle it (either on my own or with help from a specialist to which I refer my patients)
Now I know you are wondering about this second word. Preventionist. What does that mean?
Technically, it is someone who is an advocate for prevention, especially the policy of prevention.
In essence it is someone who values the power of prevention and works to integrate prevention principles and strategies in society (that’s the policy part).
Now why is prevention so important? Let me give you a couple of scenarios.
You are watching a little baby girl playing with a ball in the yard and suddenly the ball slips out of her hand and as she runs to catch it, you watch her making her way into the street. Just as a car is coming! Note that feeling you have when you think of that image.
On to the next scenario.
You are sitting down at a table sipping some water. You turn suddenly and accidentally knock the bottle over and water spills widely all over the floor. In the same moment, you notice a lady scurrying in heels straight toward the wet floor! Note that feeling you have when you think of that image.
Do you feel that tension in your chest? You have the urge to grab the child before she runs in the street or yell “STOP” to the woman running. You know that you are about to watch a potential accident or even a tragedy occur.
That’s the case for health in America. We watch as so many needless tragedies occur where too many die yearly from preventable disease. And every time I see a patient with a chronic disease in the making, that’s the same tension that comes up knowing what potentially looms in the future if we don’t step in NOW!
I’m so glad that Big Picture Learning is interested in supporting their students, teachers and community in an all encompassing way and has made the decision to step in NOW!