Allison Clough

I have traveled the long road from idealism to cynicism. I refused to adapt to the Clinton reforms, suffered serious embezzlement, and wound up bankrupt ten years after completing residency. I then worked in rural emergency rooms to pay off our debts, burned out, and took the time to get a Masters degree in Anthropology. Medical anthropology is the most intellectually rewarding field I have studied, though in the current educational climate in Arizona, there are few jobs available. I believe in family medicine, but the current health care environment is toxic.I didn't take the recertification boards last summer: our home is on the edge of the forest that was devastated by the Schultz Fire. On July 20, the first of more than a dozen flash floods swept away our yard and one of our cars, depositing over 2 feet of gravel on the uphill side of the house. We now have concrete highway barriers around our house, which have held against some doozies. We have learned a lot about water and debris flows. We now have a rather nice patio area on the uphill side of the house, on the deposited gravel. I learned to operate small tractors and bobcats and have moved the debris around, sculpting a landscape that is friendly to the flooding that will be part of our lives for the next decade. I am currently developing a program for ranchers and others who live far from medical care. Using a combination of self-instructional work books and hands-on seminars, "Self Health" teaches the basics of health maintenance, when to seek medical care, how to manage illness and injury and how to arrange evacuation.