Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Dave Montgomery.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Dr. Montgomery. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My journey started at age 9, as far as I can tell. It was at this time that I apparently first said that I wanted to be a doctor. No particular kind. Just a doctor. I love helping people heal, and my mother told me this started way back then. I was, however, terrible in school. I got mostly C’s with a few D’s and F’s peppered in for good measure. I played like any 9/10 year old–sports, hide-and-seek, tag, bugs and rodents. But I also would steal away and read biology books. One summer, my best friend’s mom let me borrow her anatomy and physiology book that she used in LPN school. I was in heaven! I spent a lot of time in the Circulatory System for reasons I still don’t understand. It was around this time that my grades made a complete 180. Learning had always been fun but now school was too.
I decided to become a cardiologist after my father died from a massive heart attack at age 53. It didn’t seem so young back then. I was 13. But, at 45, I know how young that really was. Since that decision, I haven’t looked back. I attended Morehouse College where I received my BS in Biology, then on to the University of Illinois to earn a Ph.D. in Cardiac Physiology/Biophysics. Without a break after graduate school, I started medical school at Northwestern University School of Medicine, where I stayed to train in cardiology.
I was on track to become an academic interventional cardiologist. An interventional cardiologist is a doctor that places stents in clogged arteries as well as some other really cool things. But after a series of unauspicious life circumstances, I have a change of heart and found my true gift for helping people heal. And it wasn’t unclogging arteries.
I realized that I could touch more lives in mass media and social media than simply seeing patients in the clinic. I started off in radio in Chicago, then live syndicated news then upbeat and fun talk shows. I had found it. While I’ll never give up seeing patients on a one-on-one basis, I am on another wavelength when I am on TV and radio. And the impact on people’s lives is much more far-reaching, by orders of magnitude.
Fast forward to my recruitment to the Piedmont Heart Institute as a Preventive Cardiologist focused on keeping people out of the hospital with heart attacks and strokes. I had a fantastic six-plus years with some very fine people.
But I wasn’t satisfied. My soul was satisfied.
I opened my own practice, PREventClinic in Sandy Springs, where I am able to provide people with what they want and need to live healthier, happier lives, free of life-altering heart disease. And I can now do as much TV and media as my soul desires.
I think my dad [is] proud. Just a feeling…
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I would say my biggest challenge has been remembering that even the people you look up to are imperfect. That they have human sensibilities and misgivings and emotions for which they are fighting every day. Sometimes these motives clash with your aspirations, and this is when honesty and integrity retreat.
“The good you do today will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.” Mother Teresa
PREventClinic – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I am a Preventive Cardiologist
– we prevent, diagnose and treat all forms of heart/vascular disease from palpitations to heart attack and stroke and heart failure.
– I am very proud of every aspect of our practice, but especially the environment of caring, anticipation and the special attention my staff pays to the specific needs of each individual, every time. This is also what sets us apart.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
My proudest moments happen every time we see a patient beat heart disease, reach a goal or to graduate off medication. We actually have a huddle where we talk about our “Proud Moments- what we simply call Prouds”
Contact Info:
- Address: 6000 Lake Forrest Dr NW
Suite 540
Sandy Springs GA 30328-5902 - Website: PREventATL.com
- Phone: 470-735-5045
- Email: info@preventatl.com
- Instagram: PREventATL
- Facebook: PREventATL
- Twitter: PREventATL
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