Dear Doctor: Deborah Cobb, FNP-BC
The D.C.-based family nurse practitioner on offering collaborative and preventive care to her patients.
Deborah Cobb has fifteen years of experience as a primary care provider and an ICU nurse. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Simmons College, and received her Master of Science as a Family Nurse Practitioner from Georgetown University. Prior to joining Liv by Advantia Health, she served New York City patients from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds with compassion and expertise.
Read on to learn about what inspired her to pursue medicine, her commitment to preventive care, and what she’s most excited about exploring in practice with Liv.
How did you get started in medicine and what inspired you to choose your specialty?
I was inspired to go into medicine after a personal experience. Both of my parents died unexpectedly, which enabled me to witness two very different experiences with the healthcare system.
Through the learning and processing of what happened with each of my parents, I became more interested in the treatment of patients and decided to go back to school for nursing. Before then, I was a landscape architect.
After my training and my experience working as an ICU bedside nurse, it became clear to me that a lot of the conditions from which people in the ICU were dying were lifestyle-related rather than just poor luck. That’s when I became passionate about becoming a provider rooted in preventive care.
What role does preventive medicine play in your practice?
I believe primary care is essentially preventive care. Of course, we also treat acute illnesses and chronic diseases. But the main intention of preventive care is to help you manage your health on the front end so that you don’t suffer disease on the back end and you can enjoy a higher quality of life in your golden years.
Whether I’m working with patients as they’re family planning or coming in for routine check-ups, it’s important to talk about family history and health screenings so that we can get a picture of their current health and which conditions, if any, they might be at risk for. Having a clearer picture of a patient’s blood pressure, cholesterol levels, thyroid health, mental health, etc., can help us to monitor their health more closely and make recommendations where necessary.
How do you approach mental health with your patients?
Talking about mental health is an important part of the annual exam assessment I conduct with each patient. Even if a patient doesn’t mention mental health concerns off the bat, there are several cues I can pick up on, including body language and the way they manage eye contact. Other times, certain physical symptoms can also manifest when a patient has anxiety or depression.
For example, when a patient comes in complaining of chest pains, that can sometimes be a sign of anxiety. Still, it’s important to me that I validate their concerns by conducting all of the necessary screenings to rule out a cardiac or metabolic issue. But if the results come back normal, I’ll talk with my patient about how anxiety can manifest as chest pains and which treatment options, like therapy, may help.
What have been some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in delivering quality care in the past two years?
Though it isn’t necessarily new, one pervasive challenge of delivering quality care in today’s healthcare environment is the push to see as many patients in one day as possible. The standard of narrowing patient visits down to just 15 minutes is pretty limiting and can make it difficult to provide quality care if someone is dealing with something more complicated than a cold, like a recent diagnosis of diabetes or elevated blood pressure.
What are you most excited about exploring in practice with Liv by Advantia Health?
I’m most excited about having close collaboration with the different specialists on-site, including mental health specialists and OB/GYNs.
Just yesterday, I was speaking with a patient who had what felt like a large uterine fibroid, and I was able to run their case by my colleague over an immediate consultation. Having these specialists on-site enables me to provide more comprehensive and convenient care for each patient, which is pretty exciting. Especially given that it’s all within a primary care setting.
If a patient of mine is in a mental health crisis and really struggling with anxiety or depression, I’m also able to give them access to a therapist. This is a particular blessing given how difficult and expensive access to psychiatry or therapy can be in the private marketplace.
Ultimately, having these resources in-house enables me to collaborate and coordinate better care for my patients, which is really fantastic.
Vital Signs
What does your ideal weekend look like? Playing with a ball on the beach with my dog in North Carolina.
Best meal you’ve made (or eaten) recently? A shrimp boil that I had recently with family and friends.
Favorite TV show, book, or podcast of late? I’m forever a fan of You’ve Got Mail.
What’s one healthful habit you’d love to see patients adopt? I’d love to see my patients take the advice that they’re so generous and kind to give to the people that they love. I find that my patients are often so much harder on themselves than they are with friends and family, and I’d really love to see them give themselves more love, patience, and understanding.
You can learn more about Deborah Cobb, FNP-BC here.
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