What's in the Name? Dove Family Health

People may wonder why I named my practice Dove Family Health. What's in the name? Well......

I thought long and hard and prayed and dwelt on this name for quite a while back in 2017. Names are SUPER important to me. Selecting my own daughter's name was overly important and this name selection was weighty to me as well, just in a different way.

So why "Dove?" Did it not discourage me that it was already a soap and chocolate brand? No, it didn't bother me. Others mentioned it. But I knew my practice had every right to carry that name as well. Surely this practice is more representative of a dove than chocolate or soap ever could be!

Anyhow, when I was thinking about Dove Family Health as the potential name, this is what resounded in my heart. "Family Health" is obvious--that is WHAT we DO. But "Dove"--that is WHO we ARE. Doves to me represent purity, peace and purpose. They represent faithfulness and partnership.

I think about Genesis and how Noah sent out the doves on purpose. They were sent on a mission to seek out dry land--signs of life. They were to find the place where life could begin to happen again. The dry land meant EVERYTHING to those on the ark. In our search for health, we are all just looking for life and perhaps to be delivered onto "dry land."

I find that health is something we must seek and search after. Anyone can find disease. Disease has symptoms and signs. Disease tends to illicit a drowning effect on the soul. It is as if disease could represent the waters that flooded the earth. All of the uncertainty, all of the despair and loss. The dry land represented liberation and restoration.

I feel that at Dove, our team's mission is to seek out HEALTH for our patients. Finding disease isn't good enough for me to be satisfied. Starting a medication isn't good enough. Doing lab work isn't enough. It isn't a check off box of being a good doctor. Being a good medical provider is instead being one who listens compassionately and one who partners with the patient being led into health.

Being like a dove--being sent out on purpose to find signs of life--is more purposeful and important. Being able to guide people toward health and showing them how to empower their own bodies to heal themselves is powerful.

Another thing I love about doves is their faithfulness and partnership. We have all heard about turtle doves and how they are partners for life. At Dove, we want to partner with our patients throughout their lives in order to guide them to health lifelong.

This requires commitment, honesty and sometimes saying things that are difficult in order for health to be strong. It means being upfront about expectations about therapies, medicines, etc. It means as providers, we are advocates for our patients. It means we look into the future and see all of the implications of our decisions.

Being a medical provider is difficult. Being a patient is difficult. Doing it alone is not the answer. Partnering with each other is key. Being committed to the pursuit of health together for the long run is our ambition at Dove Family Health.

We pray for our patients. We LOVE our patients. We will go to the moon and back for our patients and we will go to bat for our patients. We do it daily. We, with our patients, have had many successes since 2017 and this is just the beginning. The symbol of the dove has been longstanding throughout time and this will be our symbol as well.