Rick Bedlack, MD, PhD, is easy to spot from a distance. Instead of a white coat, the Duke neurologist wears distinct outfits when seeing patients at the Morreene Road Neurology Clinic in Durham, NC. A black leather jacket with mirrored studs and matching tie, burgundy crushed velvet suit and bow tie, a Hawaiian shirt festooned with Chinese dragons, or a pink, yellow, and green sweater vest with a Donald Duck pattern across his midsection are some of the dozens of entries in his growing wardrobe.
These outfits are more than just a fashion statement. For the past 25 years, Bedlack has specialized in treating patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), an incurable neuromuscular condition that gradually destroys a person’s ability to move, speak, and breathe. Each outfit Bedlack wears is calculated to disarm patients who might be nervous, open a topic of conversation, or make at least one element of a medical visit enjoyable for both him and his patients.
“ALS is a terrifying disease,” said Bedlack. “If I can give patients a little something to look forward to with a fun outfit, then maybe the first thing they will think about is what Dr. Bedlack has on today, or ‘what an outrageous outfit’, or ‘can I get a selfie with him,’ which will make things a little easier.”
Bedlack has been riveted by ALS since he saw his first patient who would later be diagnosed with the disease. It was 1996, and Bedlack was a medical resident at Duke at the time. While giving a neurological exam—a basic assessment of a patient’s mental status, balance, and reflexes—he saw patterns that he hadn’t seen before. “There’s no physical exam like the exam of a person with ALS. I remember thinking that ALS is such a fascinating disease, and then being completely horrified when the attending physician came in and said, ‘We don’t know what causes this and there’s nothing we can do about it,’” Bedlack said.
Read the rest of the story on Magnify, a magazine from the Duke University School of Medicine.