Episode 5: The Cardiologist World

Your Destination Cardiology Office – Peter Callaham, MD.

In the good doctor’s own words: “I was drawn to medicine very early on by the opportunity to help people in a very personal and important way. Young people have often asked me if being a physician is ‘fun’. I can't describe what I do as being fun, but it is the most rewarding profession I can imagine. I am very grateful for the ongoing opportunity to participate in the medical care of our community. Some things I enjoy are hiking, gardening, traveling, and wine making. Compassionate listening to a patient is as important as what I know in evaluating symptoms and signs of disease. I don't treat diseases, I treat people.”

Kellen: Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Striking Gold in the Local World. I'm your host, Kellen Lake, and today I'm joined with Dr. Callaham, doctor of cardiology here in Grass Valley, CA. Doctor, thank you for doing this with me.

Peter: You’re welcome.

Kellen: So, tell us a little bit about your business and why you started it.

Peter: Well I cam to Grass Valley in 1988. There were no cardiologists here then. I was the first full time cardiologist. I wanted to live in a small community. I wanted my kids to grow up in a town like this; wanted them to have access to the mountains, to the lakes, to the rivers. I wanted them to be able to ski. I wanted them to be in relatively small schools - good schools. And this was the perfect community for me.

Kellen: Yeah 100%. That’s exactly what Nevada County is! That’s awesome. Is that kind of why you chose to be in the Nevada County area? Just because of all these amenities?

Peter: That’s exactly why. Yeah, I did my training in Southern California and had many opportunities to practice there. But I had no interest in living in the big city, the atmosphere. We have a fantastic variety and quality of cardiology care here. I have patients who have been with me for over thirty years. So those are treasured relationships.

Peter: Yeah, that’s great! And that’s something you really care about - taking care of your patients and seeing them and appointments and stuff. That’s awesome, Doc. You know, this area of California is where the Gold Rush started and so it’s so cool that you get to treasure your clients that way and take care of them for a long time.

Peter: Well, some of them actually had gold mines!

Kellen: Really?! Wow!

Peter: Some of my patients actually had gold mines. Some of them in their 80s actually still work their gold mines. It’s kind of fun. One fellow, I had suggested that he needed to eat less and he was raised at a time when, you know, we were told to eat everything on our plate. And I thought that he probably could afford to throw some food away now and he said ‘yeah, well, maybe’. We went out to his car and he came back and he brought in a piece of gold like this. He said, ‘You know what, doc? you’re right doc, you’re right’.

Kellen: Well Doctor, thank you for doing this with me. Thank you for what your doing in this community.