Steven Gordon:
CLASS OF 1968
Colorado AcademyClass of 1968
Denver, CO
Steven's Story
Life
Stagnated for a year after graduating Yale in 72. My music career had been a failure, but was fun trying. Decided to be a doctor in 73, had to go back for premed to U Colo/Denver. Went to Mich State 75 to 79, residency in family practice in Casper Wyo 79 -82. Met my wife, Bethany, at the synagogue there; we're still married and have 3 kids, as of 2021, 34,36,39, and 2 grandchildren ages 3 and 5. Not counting the foster kids, but that's a different story. Indian health service in New Mexico in 82, had my bar mitzvah in Albuquerque in 83. Started hunting in 82, wish I'd spent time at the CA gun club instead of with the band. Got my back problem diagnosed in 81, after running a marathon; it was hopeless till I got on the miracle drug in 2000. Moved from NM to IA in 85, stayed with the IHS, burnt out on the Indians in 87 and went into private practice; 23 years went by very fast, but the lucrative position was not sustainable.
I have had virtually every job, and medicine is definitely the best. I've learned enough Hebrew that about a year ago I read from the Torah with no prep, and I'm teaching the Bar Mitzvah class; during the pandemic it's via Zoom. I'm very active in Judaism but I would prefer to be judged on how I treat the people around me than on my religious observance.. I hunt a lot, I do some writing, I love my fruit trees, I own farm land, I speak a lot of Spanish (about half my working day) and I am good at what I do. I'd love to hear from other CA survivors; I have my theories about what happened to us on a collective level, with uncompromising academic standards and no respect for the human being at the receiving end. On the other hand, if you don't want to talk about CA, I'd understand.
UPDATE Spring 2010: Turning 60, I'm getting out of private practice. I've missed the hospital work but I'm putting in too many hours. I love Sioux City and medicine too much to leave either one. I have to slow down before I burn out and I can't slow down as an owner of a high overhead operation. Check my blog: walkaboutdo...Expand for more
c.wordpress.com. My farm ground is out of the CRP and I cash rented it out (if you understand that sentence I'd love to hear from you).
Update June 2010: Having an absolutely fabulous time at the northernmost point in the US, Barrow, Alaska. I'm doing locum tenens work here, now down to 65 hours a week and playing soprano sax with the local group once a week. Thinking about even more exotic venues. I'm here for the adventure.
Update April 2011: In the last year I've worked in Barrow, Alaska, with the Inuit, Keosauqua, Iowa in Mennonite country, Grand Island Nebraska with heartlanders, and New Zealand with Maoris and Pakeha.
Update Summer 2011: Working in the Community Health Center; happy to be back home, working a reduced schedule (44 hours/wk) and speaking Spanish.
UPDATE SEPT 2013. Now working 54 hours a week, and working too hard. Application of game theory is leading me to consider other options. Two daughters married. Hunting less because the kids aren't home. Pheasants in Iowa have all but disappeared.
Update Dec 2020: Left community health in 2014 and went walkabout again, mostly to Alaska but also to Canada where in northern BC I impressed the local First Nations (Dine) with a small vocabulary in their language. We have two grandchildren in Pittsburgh. Also a married daughter moved to Israel where she' working on her PhD. Also a daughter in Boise who is an RN. During the pandemic I'm doing telemedicine and having a great time of it. Ambushed by language a Navajo patient in Texas by greeting with the proper kinship term and asking, idiomatically, what she was up to. Yet less than 4% of my work is in Spanish and I don't get to show off my yoyo to the kids. As of now I've had COVID19 and I'm pretty much recovered.
Update Sept 2021. Shaved for the first time in 52 years so I could get on an N95 mask. My wife finds me more attractive and friends tell me I look younger. Spent the summer working in Iowa Amish country, mostly staffing a COVID clinic, valuing good admin, and learning to deal with vaccine hesitance.
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