Gratitude-“the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.”
As I reflect on 10 years of Las Vegas Dermatology, I am filled with gratitude for my community, practice and team. Were it not for the support and patronage of all of you, there would be no Las Vegas Dermatology. When I dreamt of what kind of practice I would have, I did not totally understand all that would be involved to get to this point. Going from working half days at the Veteran’s Administration while growing the brand in 1 room of another doctor’s office to our 5,000 square feet of majestic space, I’m so excited about what we have achieved. Living in Las Vegas has been a dream come true for me- I have eaten in our outstanding restaurants, met famous people, seen exciting shows, cured cancer, taught resident physicians, made great friends, and built a practice with a dedicated staff of which I am proud.
When the shooting tragedy hit our community on 10/1/2017, I was reminded of my time as an internal medicine resident at Georgetown University Hospital when a plane hit the pentagon on 9/11/2001. I went to volunteer at Georgetown Hospital that tragic day in 2001, and sadly, there was no one to treat. Now as a board certified dermatologist, I feel there is very little I can do when it comes to tragedies like the one we just experienced. We have lasers that I use to treat scars in the office, and I have let my team, other docs, friends and patients know that we will be happy to use our services to heal our community, but sadly the issues faced by the survivors are greater and far beyond the scope of what I do.
I am grateful today, and everyday, that I get to treat patients as a dermatologist. When I speak with my physician mentors, I thank them for the opportunity they gave me to live my dream. After the shooting, I called my parents to let them know that I was ok. During that conversation, I also told them that were I one of the people who didn’t survive that Sunday evening that I have lived a good life and achieved my dreams. Additionally, I thanked my parents for their continued support. Whoever you are, and whatever you do, please take the time to reflect on how good you have it and say express gratitude to those who deserve it because out there is someone who wasn’t able to say thank you or let their loved ones know that they are appreciated. When my staff leaves work for the day, I thank them for coming in and for a job well done. We have an amazing team at Las Vegas Dermatology and I hope to keep this team together for the next 10 years.
One of our patients, who I like to call, “The Cool Dad”, came into our office last week wearing one of the new Vegas Golden Knights’ Jerseys with his name on the back- I was so jealous of his jersey. That afternoon I told my team that Friday would be, “Jersey Day”, I wore the Maize and Blue colors of Las Vegas Dermatology and the University of Michigan that day. While I will always be a Michigan Wolverine, I am also very proud to live in Las Vegas. Although I wore my University of Michigan Football Jersey last weekend, I did order that, “Cool Dad” Vegas Golden Knights Hockey jersey this weekend, and I will be wearing it for our next #LVDerm Jersey day, I’m just waiting for them to put the name, “Dr. Vegas” on the back.
With Gratitude and #VegasStrong,
Dr. H.L. Greenberg
Dr. Vegas
