Alpha Omega DPC is up and running in Camden, Delaware. Dr. Patricia J. Karnes-Amzibel owns and operates the practice. Dr. Karnes-Amzibel attended Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, where she developed an understanding of the mind, body and spirit continuum that provides health to the entire person. She developed questioning and listening skills to determine disease and communication skills to encourage health and recovery. With these skills, she continued her training at the Community Hospital of Lancaster for a year long osteopathic rotating internship. She completed her training in Family Medicine in Wilmington, Delaware at the St. Francis Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program.She has been a practicing physician for 24 years, with 21 of those years in a medically underserved community where she grew up and was a patient as a child.

She realized the impact of life balance with a short exchange during a grocery shopping trip, where a patient saw Dr. Karnes-Amzibel and her husband and asked her husband, “Do you know how long I have to wait for your wife to see me?” her husband promptly responded, “Do you know how long we wait for her at night to complete all pertinent items of your visit?” That exchange brought a lot of things into perspective. She knew things needed to change to improve her ability to be present for her family and to be able to continue to provide quality time and exceptional care.

Direct Primary Care was the solution. She realized that she is a physician who believes that all interactions are purposeful. The premise of Direct Primary Care is that she gets to perform full spectrum primary care to decrease the necessity of referrals, offering reduced cost labs, radiology services and discounted medications, all saving patients time and money; yet, giving her the ability to be present for both family and patients. She would be able to practice medicine the way it should be where the patient becomes the most utilized resource of the healthcare team, which in today’s system is easily overlooked. She took an oath; the osteopathic oath for which she believes in, where the philosophy is to assist each person under their care toward a high level of wellness by focusing on health promotion and disease prevention.

That grocery shopping story certainly represents what many physicians are feeling. Thanks to Dr. Karnes-Amzibel for sharing this story and showing how DPC can be the solution.