Dr. Kurleigh Leonnard Martin
Doctor
South West Regional Health Authority

Q: What exactly is internal medicine?

A: Internal medicine is the study of non surgical conditions at its most basic. It tends to exclude pediatric internal medicine as the causes of and treatments of this population is sufficiently different to warrant its own specialty. Internal Medicine is quite broad and is often divided into sub-specialties (Gastroenterology, Nephrology Neurology etc) in most larger hospitals.

Q: What were the factors that attracted you to this particular career path?

A: As corny as it sounds I really do want to help people. Medicine is a long hard slog. From the awesome grades you need to have just to get in to the years of socially awkward studying and then working hours, medicine is not for the faint hearted. That being said it is a daily mental challenge that i love. I truly cant imagine doing anything else.

Q: What advice would you give to individuals around taking care of their bodies and remaining healthy?

A: At its most basic being active, eating right and making smart decisions about stress will all contribute to a healthy lifestyle. I advise my patients to be active (no matter what that entails-running walking biking swimming football cricket yoga) for at least 30-60 minutes per day. Also i advise them to stop all sugary drinks – water and unsweetened tea and coffee in moderation should be their only beverages. This simple change can cause the pounds to drop and can delay or prevent lifestyle diseases like diabetes, obesity and heart disease.

Q: What do you see internal medicine evolving to in the next ten years?

A: Internal Medicine will become personalized medicine with the advent of genetic medicine. It will allow us to tailor a patients treatment to their particular needs and should allow for less down time and less side effects. Its terribly exciting and I cant wait to see where it leads.

Q: Where do you see yourself in the next ten years?

A: In the next ten years I see my self specialized in Gastroenterology and hopefully teaching at the university level. I have been blessed to have wonderful teachers for my entire scholastic life and I want to give something back.

As I entered the barber shop on the evening of Saturday April 1st 2012, everyone’s  attention seemed focused on the three  lottery ticket-holders from Illinois, Kansas and Maryland who had selected the winning numbers for the world record-breaking $640 million Mega Millions. Individuals took the time to share their detailed lists of what they would do if they had won. Indeed, it’s easy to plot and plan over money that we don’t have. Should the way we manage our money change if this type of fortune happened to us? Within recent time, I’ve been astonished to see the number of individuals who at one point in time earned millions of dollars per year (athletes, performers and prominent business persons) who now find themselves deep in financial debt or are even at the stage of bankruptcy. Standing from the outside and looking in, it’s easy to say that this would never happen to us.

Should making more money or coming into a windfall change the way we manage our money? Would a person who had debt issues earning a small sum, have no issues if they made more money? Does more imply greater prowess or discipline, or does it open the floodgates for us to extend our habits to a larger universe? The fact is that making more money would translate into an automatic higher standard of living for most of us. The things that satisfied us before, no longer do. There is a greater desire to either keep up with the Jones’ or show that we’re “on a whole other level now” so to speak. I remember remarking to my wife the other day that it’s one thing to buy a house but maintaining it is a whole other ball game. Huge houses have huge upkeep costs. Expensive cars have large insurance premiums. One must factor all these items into the equation before making these decisions. To become wealthy, one has to do long-term financial planning which not only factors in the cost of acquisition but also takes into consideration maintenance, expansion and succession.

Proverbs 24:3-5 says  “Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established. And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches. A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.” God in his infinite wisdom sets an example for us here which entails planning for the long term. Wealth and financial security is a process. We live in a society that says to us that you can have whatever you want if you have good credit, but many people will spend the rest of their lives paying for some of the things they purchase this way, or even leave bills for their children to finish paying. Don’t get me wrong, having good credit is extremely important but it is in no way the final solution. It simply opens the door. Once that door is opened and we walk inside, the work has only just begun. Do you plan to take all of the 30 years to pay that mortgage or would you like to pay it off even quicker? What’s your long term strategy for your college debt? What are the consequences of paying only the minimum on a credit card bill? How do I execute on your plans to visit Europe in the next 5 years? I use these examples to show that they are all processes that require us to sit down and plan for the long term. Indeed, it would be great to win the lottery at least once in one’s lifetime, but if it does happen it should not significantly cause us to deviate from the plans we have formulated. If anything it should provide a cushion for us to approach our goals even more aggressively. It should in no way change the healthy habits that we developed toward our financial goals. Even the very rich have to exercise financial discipline in their lives otherwise they would not stay rich for long. And to my brothers and sisters who hold on to the dream of becoming a mega millionaire, the same discipline that was applied in managing little should be applied to your millions.

It’s important for us to develop a mentality of long term financial planning to achieve our goals. It’s not about being rich but rather wealthy, and leaving a legacy for the generations to come. It’s easy to live in the moment, but great men and women think long term.