I grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and went to Johns Hopkins University. I considered several career paths, including journalism and linguistics, but finally decided on pursuing a degree in medicine. It allowed a choice of many ways to make a difference. In my first year of medical school at Tulane University in New Orleans, we did one month solid of nothing but Neurology in the middle of the year, and I was smitten. I loved the logic, beauty, and mystery of the nervous system. I worked in the private practice medical world for 19 years, the first year in New Orleans and the rest back in the mid-Atlantic region in Virginia Beach. While I always enjoyed seeing the patients and practicing Neurology, I was not keen on running what amounted to a small business. Also, I did not think the traditional economics of private practice medicine were right for most patients. I decided I wanted a change in setting and answered an ad in a Neurology journal for a job at Kaiser Permanente in Portland.