History:

After moving to Albuquerque, N.M., in 1977, Dr. Sollins practiced emergency medicine for nine years. During that time, he served the dual role of emergency physician and president of the largest emergency room group in New Mexico. Between the years of 1977 and 1986, he had direct responsibility for the development and operation of three emergency rooms and five urgent care centers in Albuquerque. From 1986 through 1998, Dr. Sollins practiced general internal medicine with New Mexico Medical Group, the largest private multi-specialty group in Albuquerque, once again serving the dual role of physician and, from 1993-97, president of the group. Under his leadership, New Mexico Medical Group began the transition from a "group practice without walls" to more traditional multi-specialty group through the development of the Jefferson Medical Campus, a 31,000 sq. ft. facility housing 15 physicians and full laboratory and radiology services. From 1994 through 1997, Dr. Sollins also served as president of The Physicians Healthcare Initiative, New Mexico’s largest independent physicians’ association ("IPA").

Bridges In Medicine began in 1996. At that time Dr. Sollins was enrolled in a program about "creating possibilities." The underlying premise of this program stated: "The most important determinant of our success, of how we function in the present, of who we are is not the past but the future. When we are able to leave our past and stand in the future, the possibilities for every part of our lives multiply exponentially."(2) Dr. Sollins found this concept intriguing. His dream was to create a bridge for the integration of allopathic and non-allopathic medicine.

During the first few months of the development of Bridges In Medicine™, it was known in the community as the "Magic of Medicine" group. Their first symposium was held on February 2, 1997. Through the efforts of many wonderful healthcare practitioners from multiple disciplines, we had a dialogue between nearly 60 providers from both the allopathic and non-allopathic communities. The interest generated from this meeting was so overwhelming that a Steering Committee was created to further elaborate how these communities could continue to work together.

It was at this time that Dr. Sollins suggested creating a team consisting of five practitioners from various modalities to care for two of his patients with chronic problems. On June 22, 1997, a second symposium, now called "Bridges In Medicine," was held. The results of these two eight-week treatment programs were astounding and are discussed below. When the practitioner community present at the semiinar was able to see and hear, from patients themselves, the impact on their lives, the "word" hit the street. Within a few weeks Bridges In Medicine was being asked to provide medical care for various businesses in the Albuquerque area. Fortunately, during the previous year, they had started already to develop a network while planning the original symposium. In August of 1997, they offically formed "Bridges In Medicine Healthcare, Incorporated." Their present network consists of approximately 30 practitioners representing 24 different conventional and complementary specialties.

Innovation: The Driving Force

The cornerstone of Bridges In Medicine, which makes us unique, is the intent of our T.E.A.M. From its inception, the vision, goal or mission was to create a model for healthcare where the "whole" patient was the focus of intention/attention. That attention whould be amplified by having a T.E.A.M. of practitioners specifically create an environment of safey and comfort where patients could also participate, proactively, in their own healing journey. You might say Bridges In Medicine has taken a concept central to all major religions and belief system s and brought it into the 21^st century. It might be said that the process which is occuring in our T.E.A.M.s is high-tech prayer. Each member of the T.E.A.M. in his or her own way is attuning to a higher level of consciousness, utilizing their particular technical expertise, and then directly applying/focusing those intentions toward the patient. Patients find themselves in a system of support and encouragement that allows them to explore their own physical, emotional, mental and spiritual issues, while recognizing they also have the safety net of high-tech Western medicine. The acronym T.E.A.M. - Trained Experts in the Art of Medicine - is exactly what Bridges In Medicine represents.

Innovations in the Works

A top priority is the opportunity to create a link between Bridges In Medicine and the Electronic Curbside Consult program developed by Dr. William Mitchell. This has absolutely incredible ramifications. The ability to have a complementary medicine program connected via computer to the best of high-tech Western medicine would truly create a cutting edge, patient-oriented, quality process. Dr. Sollins and other staff physicians are unaware of any place in the country that presently employs this program design.

At Bridges In Medicine, we are beginning also to plan for the development of protocols for various disease processes. especially in those areas in which traditional medicine finds itself at a loss: fibromyalgia, low back pain, substance abuse, headache, chronic sinusitis, and general lifestyle changes.

Developing a methodolgy to collect outcome data from the various practitioners represents a particular challege. Utilizing the Western medicine "SOAP" (Subjective Objective Assessment Plan) note model will be a starting place, but the real challenge involves translation of those non-conventional processes into the language that is understandable to practitioners across a wide spectrum of modalities.

At Bridges In Medicine, we have established a facility for both patients and practitioners, allowing them to work together on a daily basis, and also to serve as a training site for students in the healing arts, including:

1. medical
2. nursing
3. physical therapy
4. behavioral medicine
5. acupuncture
6. chiropractic
7. massage
8. health care administration students

Concepts that may have been considered radical just a few years ago have now moved from being visionary to approaching the norm. The beauty of the process we call "life" is our ability to consciously move into our own future. We at Bridges In Medicine feel it is our obligation and privilege to move into the future and partners who have established themselves as living with a MISSION to SERVE.