Doug Farrago, MD

Douglas Farrago, MD is board-certified in the specialty of Family Practice.  He is the inventor of a product called the Knee Saver which is currently in the Baseball Hall of Fame.  He is also the inventor of the CryoHelmet used by athletes for head injuries as well as migraine sufferers.  

From 2001 – 2011,  Dr. Farrago was the editor and creator of the Placebo Journal which ran for 10 full years.  Described as the Mad Magazine for doctors, he and the Placebo Journal were featured in the Washington Post, US News and World Report, the AP, and the NY Times.

Douglas Farrago, MD received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Virginia in 1987, his Masters of Education degree in the area of Exercise Science from the University of Houston in 1990, and his Medical Degree from the University of Texas at Houston in 1994. His residency training occurred way up north at the Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine. In his final year, he was elected Chief Resident by his peers. Dr. Farrago practiced family medicine for twenty-three years before retiring, first in Auburn, Maine and then in Forest, Virginia. He founded Forest Direct Primary Care in 2014, which quickly filled in 18 months.  Dr. Farrago runs DPCnews.com and lectures regularly about the present crisis in our healthcare system and the effect it has on the doctor-patient relationship. Dr. Farrago has written three books on direct primary care:  The Official Guide to Starting Your Own Direct Primary Care Practice, The Direct Primary Care Doctor’s Daily Motivational Journal and Slowing the Churn in Direct Primary Care (While Also Keeping Your Sanity) are all best sellers in this genre. He is a leading expert in direct primary care model and lectures medical students, residents, and doctors on how to start their own DPC practice.

Debbie Farrago, M. Ed

Debbie Farrago was the practice manager at Forest Direct Primary Care for six years. She was the backbone behind the operation who is credited with keeping Dr. Farrago organized and on task while also helping to create their successful practice (He has problems with that). Debbie received her Bachelor of Science in Education in 1986 and her Masters of Education in 1992. She is the mother of three great kids whom she was fortunate to be able to stay at home with and raise. Starting Forest Direct Primary Care with her husband was her first foray into the medical field but one she gladly jumped at in order for her and her husband’s dream to come true.

Kenneth Qiu, MD

Dr. Qiu will be moderating our Resident and Student section. Kenneth Qiu, MD recently finished his family medicine residency and has just opened a DPC practice in the Richmond, VA area. He has been involved with the DPC community since medical school and has worked to increase awareness of DPC for medical students and residents across the country.  He’s presented at three previous DPC Summits.

Maryal Concepcion, MD

A Sacramento native, Dr. Maryal Concepcion is a Filipinx creator and connector. She attended the University of California at Davis where she graduated in 2005 with a double major in Anthropology (BS) and Evolution & Ecology (BA). She had an unforgettable time as a California transplant when she got her MD at Creighton University in Omaha, NE. It was there she discovered hayrack rides, found her Husband, Dr. Jeremiah Fillo, and discovered her love of rural family medicine. Her residency training was in the unopposed family medicine program at Doctors Medical Center, Modesto, a training extension through the UC Davis Medical School. During her time in training, she returned to rural Superior Nebraska to complete proficiency training in performing colonoscopies as part of her rural family medicine concentration. After residency, she moved to Arnold, CA where she worked under the fee for service model with her Husband doing full-scope care for over five years. Though grateful for her experience in this role, she was driven to seek a better way of life and a desire to practice insurance-free medicine and that was when she discovered DPC. She is the founder and host of the podcast My DPC Story, a weekly podcast that educates and inspires by featuring DPC and direct care physicians. Find it at mydpcstory.com and on all major podcasting platforms. Most recently, she became the CEO and wearer-of-all-the-other-hats at Big Trees MD, the first Direct Primary Care in Arnold, a rural town of 4,000 in the Stanislaus National Forest located in Northern California. Her clinic was created as a telemedicine and home visit model without a brick and mortar space. But, the title she is most proud of is being a Mama to Asher & Nolan, her two ridiculously awesome and cuddly boys!

Shane Purcell, MD

Dr. Purcell is board certified family physician working in Anderson, SC. He received his medical degree from Mercer University in Macon, GA and completed family medicine residency at AnMed Health in Anderson, SC. After completing his residency, Dr. Purcell worked in a private group practice for 3 years before opening his own cash-only primary care clinic in 2005. As he built his cash-only clinic, he was also working part-time in a local urgent care facility. In 2008, he purchased a dormant medical clinic on the “wrong side of the tracks” and opened an urgent care and primary care clinic. After gaining his freedom from third-party captives, Dr. Purcell and a colleague formed the first direct primary care clinic in Anderson County in 2015. In 2019, he transitioned to full-time direct primary care and sold his urgent care. The direct primary care model has brought about a restoration of a relationship with patients broken by third-party middlemen. Now, he can offer more access and more of his time to patients. Dr. Purcell firmly believes that the direct primary care model is the last hope for health care in America. Dr. Purcell is an active member of several medical organizations including the DPC Alliance, Free Market Medical Association, and American Academy of Family Physicians. He is the former Chair of the Direct Primary Care Member Interest Group for the AAFP and a founding member of the DPC Alliance and the Carolina’s Free Market Medical Association. He was elected to the Advisory Committee for the DPC Alliance in the Fall of 2018 and completed his term in 2021. Dr. Purcell is the author of Magic, Pixie Dust, and Miracles: A Guide to Direct Primary Care and Employers which shares how to connect DPC with employers of all sizes. He has spoken about this topic and DPC in general at the DPC Summit, DPC Nuts and Bolts conference, Hint Summit, AAFP FMX, Carolina’s Free Market Medical Association, TedexFurman, and DPC Alliance Mastermind sessions. He continues to speak to residents and student groups about DPC as well.

Vance Lassey, MD

Dr. Lassey earned his medical degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine and completed his residency at the Smoky Hill Family Medicine Program, where he served as the chief resident. He went on to practice rural inpatient, outpatient, emergency room, and obstetric care, in Holton, Kansas. He found the calling he loved to have been hijacked by middlemen. Stuck in a broken system, mired in bureaucracy, clicking boxes, coding, not seeing his family, and hearing patients complain bitterly about medical costs he had no ability to control, Direct Primary Care (DPC) became the solution for him, his family, and his patients. He is passionate about restoring the physician-patient relationship, bringing transparency and sanity to medical costs, and advises physicians around the country on how to get out of the FFS system. He serves as an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Kansas School of Medicine, is the recipient of numerous clinical and teaching awards, and is a founding member and currently the President of the Direct Primary Care Alliance.

Garrison Bliss, MD

Garrison Bliss was born and raised in Salt Lake City.  He went to public High School and somehow found his way to Harvard University in 1968. with the Vietnam War raging and tear gas in the dorms, where he tried on majors in Mathematics, then Philosophy (mostly to pursue issues around Ethics) and finally Biology after deciding to pursue a career in medicine.  He spent a year working in a Biochemistry lab at the University of Utah before enrolling at the University of Utah School of Medicine.  He graduated with honors in Internal Medicine and did his residency at the University of Washington, initially in the Academic track but after experiencing some time in rooms with patients, decided to go into Clinical Primary Care Internal Medicine.  He co-founded Seattle Medical Associates in 1980.  In 1995 two of his partners left to start MD², the first concierge practice in America.  In 1997, he partnered with Mitchell Karton MD in starting what would eventually be called the Direct Primary Care (DPC) movement, in hopes of rebooting primary care in America as a high functioning patient-centered care system independent of the problematic insurance-driven fee-for-service system.  After a few years, he joined the board of a new Primary Care organization (Initially called the American Society of Concierge Physicians, then the Society for Innovative Medical Practice Design) which provided education and inspiration for Primary Care physicians hoping to create independent affordable Primary Care practices designed around the needs of their patients (not their payors) at pricing that was affordable for them without 3rd party interference.  In 1997, he created the Direct Primary Care Coalition in Washington DC with the help of lobbyist Jay Keese who became the political Guru of DPC, both at the state and federal level.  His first act was to help Dr Bliss pass federal legislation (in the Affordable Care Act), then to help pass the first state bill in Washington State (with the brilliant work of Lisa Thatcher in Olympia who miraculously got us over a finish line) that made it legal for a Primary Care Physician to charge a monthly fee for care without being labeled as an insurance company.  It also for the first time included the term “Direct” as an alternative to the mislabeling that preceded it (Concierge and Boutique).  Also In 1997, Dr Bliss left Seattle Medical Associates to create Qliance, with the able support of his brother-in-law Norman Wu MBA and his cousin Erika Bliss MD.  This company survived for almost 10 years as it led the fight for the survival of high functioning affordable Primary Care against a host of roadblocks and helped clear a trail for successful scaled companies that followed.  Dr Bliss spent his last 5 years as a solo practitioner of DPC at BlissMD in Seattle, with the support of his talented and feisty MA/Office Manager/Superwoman Becky Payne.  Dr Bliss retired in September 2020.  He lives with his wife of >50 years Suzanne Wu on Bainbridge Island.   He is eternally grateful for all of the support and understanding from amazingly tolerant son, daughter and wife.  He continues to work with Jay Keese as Chairman of the Board of the Direct Primary Care Coalition to remove the remaining roadblocks to DPC in America.  His greatest pleasure is watching this movement grow and mature.

Michelle Cooke, MD

Dr. Michelle Cooke is not only a rock-star Family Physician, she is a wife, boy-mom, yogi and a proud Direct Primary Care Physician. She is the owner & founder of Southwest Atlanta’s first DPC Practice – Sol Direct Primary Care. The DPC model frees Dr. Cooke to spend more time with her patients to practice lifestyle medicine. She helps her patients achieve their best health with less medication! When she is not in the office, you’ll find Dr. Cooke on the yoga mat, frolicking in nature, or jamming to live music around Atlanta. https://sol-dpc.org

John Hayes, Jr., MD

John Hayes, Jr., MD spent years working primarily with family physicians and surgeons helping their pain patients with chiropractic, clinical nutrition, and lifestyle coaching. His work with the sickest lead not only to further his training but more importantly to the development of patient systems & tools to better help those suffering neuropathy & chronic pain. Frustrated with the changes in healthcare and concern about increasing physician demands in 2008 he published the EVVY nominated book “Living & Practicing by Design” and along with his wife Patti developed simplified EMR, practice business platforms, and systems.

Thomas White, MD

Thomas Rhyne White was born in Gastonia NC and grew up in Cherryville NC. After graduation from Cherryville High School, he attended Duke University for his undergraduate and medical educations, and was elected to AOA in his 3rd year of medical school. He completed a Family Medicine residency in Charlotte NC. After serving on the teaching faculty at Charlotte Memorial Hospital (now Atrium Health), he returned to his hometown of Cherryville in 1988, where he has practiced since. In 2015, he opened Hometown Direct Care, which now has 2 offices and 3 physicians. In May of this year, he opened an additional practice named Hometown Healthy, with a focus on weight management and preventive medicine. In 2015 he served as the President of the North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians. In 2020 he was selected the North Carolina Family Physician of the Year. He currently serves on the AAFP Commission on Quality and Practice and as the AAFP representative on the Pre-Diabetes Task Force. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Clinical Lipidology, a fellow of the National Lipid Association, former President of the Southeast Lipid Association, and currently serves on the National Board of Directors of the NLA. He hosts a monthly podcast “Lessons Learned, Wisdom Shared” in partnership with the NCAFP, featuring family physicians and their reflections on their careers. He has lectured and written extensively on a variety of topics, including cardiovascular disease prevention and Direct Primary Care. He has completed 35 marathons, including 6 Bostons, and still aspires to hike the Appalachian Trail. He is married to Diana and they have 2 children, Whitney, an RN, and Daniel, a 5th year surgery resident, and 2 grandchildren, Lawson 7 and Addy 4. In 2022 he was selected by his hometown of Cherryville as “Citizen of the Year.”

Tic Douloureux

Tic is our anchorman for DPC News Television. He has been in broadcasting for over thirty years. He has worked as an announcer, disc jockey, and newsman for stations from California to New York City. After retiring in 2007 he has graciously accepted our offer to host our show on a sporadic basis. He is an avid fan of Direct Primary Care and parrots.

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