Dr. Robert Olsen

I am a local boy, born , raised, and educated in the Pacific Northwest. I value our clean air and water, and I value and respect our cultural diversity. I attended the Univerity of Washington School of Medicine; then spent seven years at USC for post graduate training in internal medicine and psychiatry. My wife and I returned to Seattle with our y0ung daughter and a pocket full of sheepskins. I started practice in 1978 and have been busy and productive ever since. Within a few years I was asked to create the Department of Psychiatry at Providence Hospital, and I served two terms as Chairman of that Department. During that same time my wife blessed me with our son. We learned how to sail local waters, I learned how to navigate medical politics. I built the Psychiatry Department from ten physicians to 22 who regularly admitted patients and grew the service from 28 beds to 44. I learned how to play soccer to help coach my son's team; I taught my daughter the basics of navigation. I learned to cook so my wife could return to school for an advanced degree in psychology. My peers taught me the importance of leadership and twice elected me President of the Washington State Psychiatric Association and later as a Trustee to the Washington State Medical Association. I believe that I practice medicine in the spirit of Hippocrates and William Osler. I spend time with the patients. I take my own history and do my own examinations. I have watched and railed against the development of the "efficient" 8-10 minute "team-based" office encounter which is dangerous to patients' health and to physicians freedoms. I have watched patients and friends be harmed by this change in attitude and values. At sea, I keep my hand on the wheel, my cheek to the wind, my eye scans the horizon, and I keep my family safe. In practice I keep mind on the patient, my ears on his history, my eyes on his person, keeping us both safe from harm.