We have some really interesting physicians as members of iMedExchange, and since those of you that aren't members don't get to hear from them, we'll continue to profile some of them in our blog. Today I'd like to introduce you to Sheldon Alter, MD. Sheldon is a retired physician who lives in Florida.
How did you get into Occupational Medicine? Actually, I hadn't originally planned on practicing Occupational Medicine. I was practicing Anesthesiology when I developed heart trouble and was told that if I wanted to see my children graduate high school I better get into a less stressful specialty. I was fortunate to land a position as Associate Medical Director for Texas Instruments, essentially taking care of their employees for their second largest division worldwide. I took courses in Occupational Medicine, learned "everything I could", and became very active in the field. I became Board Certified in Preventive and Environmental Medicine in the specialty of Occupational Medicine and became a Fellow in the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. I also served as President of the New England Occupational and Environmental Medical Association.
What is one of the things you most enjoyed about Occupational Medicine? Besides the medical care, I loved the challenges of ergonomics and instituted a number of programs, some rather innovative, for our employees. Texas Instruments was most cooperative in allowing me to introduce these programs. Amongst them were work station rotation, exercise breaks during the work time at the work station, hiring an exercise physiologist to define specific programs, high speed cinematography to study ergonomic problems at the work station, and much more. Most of these programs were up and running at TI well before they were highlighted in the media for other companies, mostly located in Japan.
Since retiring, do you miss medicine? For the first couple of years of retirement I did. I felt I was no longer making a contribution. But that feeling has since passed. My wife and I enjoy the freedom of picking up and visiting our children and grandchildren, who are scattered around the US, and we now enjoy a great deal of travel - we have visited most of the US, Europe, South Pacific, some of Central America, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Russia.
What do you do when you're not traveling?
I took up golf as a fun hobby. I did not want to get frustrated by the game at my stage in life and experience with golf so I play to have a good time. Of course I continually try to improve but I don't get frustrated with a "bad day". The challenge of the game is that it is you who is responsible for a good, bad, mediocre game. No one else. I play with friends who have that type of philosophy so it is a win-win situation.
Anything else you think people might find interesting?
I enjoy being somewhat innovative and was actually awarded two U.S. patents in my name on two products for home use. One was a cup holder for a certain type of automobile and the other was a device to lounge on a water float e.g. while using a float on a lake one could read, have "munchies", have a drink, answer a portable phone, sleep, etc and not drift away because of the current. I did not invent these two items for profit reasons but rather for my personal use. The challenge was to do something no one else had done, not to make money (and I didn't).
