■ four questions
Dr. Greg Holzman chats with Platinum.
At a time when people are lining up across
1.WHAT BOOK, CD OR OTHER
MEDIA DO YOU LONG TO SHARE?
the state for the H1 N1 (swine flu) vaccine,
and officials are working hard to prevent the
spread of the virus, DR. GREG HOLZMAN is a
Mountains Beyond Mountains: Healing the
World by Dr. Paul Farmer. He's a physician
who's done a lot of work in Haiti and other
places, and he's done a lot of work with the
poor. He works "upstream," which in com-
munity health means working to prevent
things like smoking, obesity and diseases
before they happen. That's what he really
strives to do.
busy man. He is the chief medical executive
with the Michigan Department of Community
Health. The 43-year-old doctor, who lives in
Okemos (near Lansing) with his wife, Donna,
uses his medical and public-health training to
serve as a liaison between the state, medical
and public health communities. "Right now,
we're dealing with the current H1 N1 out-
break," he said. "We're working with our part-
ners locally and in the private sector to distrib-
ute vaccines, get people information and make sure medications are readily available."
Dr. Holzman is a graduate of Michigan State University, University of Florida Medical
School and the University of Washington, where he earned a master's degree in public
health. During his studies, he took one year off to travel around the world. He and his
wife, a physician assistant, also lived and worked on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation
in Montana. "I've seen how much public health is needed and how much it makes a
difference," he said. "I think it's the best way to deal with some of our community-
based problems." Dr. Holzman is also a strong proponent for a smoke-free Michigan;
he hopes to see lawmakers ban smoking in restaurants and other public places. Here,
we ask Dr. Holzman our version of the Four Questions.
2. IF YOU COULD HAVE BRUNCH
WITH ONE BIBLICAL OR
HISTORICAL JEWISH FIGURE,
WHO WOULD IT BE?
Theodore Herzl, the father of Zionism. I
wonder what he would think if he could see
how things are now and what's happening
in the Middle East and around the world.
He wanted a homeland for the Jews, but he
wasn't too keen on the Middle East as the
location. It would be an interesting conversa-
tion.
— Robin Schwartz
3. WHAT IMPORTANT LIFE
LESSONS HAVE YOU RECENTLY
LEARNED?
The journey is as important as the goal you're
striving for — especially in public health.
Day to day you can feel like you're hitting
your head against a wall, and you're not mak-
ing great strides. Tobacco is a good example.
We have come a long way; smoking is not
the social norm anymore so sometimes you
have to look back and realize how far you've
come. You may not always be around to see
the final goal that's achieved.
4.WHAT WOULD PEOPLE BE
SURPRISED TO KNOW ABOUT YOU?
When I was on the Indian reservation, my
patients would always come in and bring me
venison, and some asked me to go hunting
with them. I'm not a vegetarian, but I could
never do that. One group did ask me to go
out and round up cattle so I did that for a
full day. All I could think about the whole
time was the movie City Slickers, but it was a
lot of fun. a
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