The active heart within ‘Dr. Musher’

WASILLA— Dr. Paul Forman is seen with a dog more often than not, be it inside or in the wilderness. When he isn’t taking care of patients at the Solstice Family Care clinic, Forman is either taking care of his dogs or taking them on an adventure- that’s why some people call him ‘Dr. Musher.’

“I love the dog lifestyle. It takes a lot of time and energy but it’s worth it,” Forman said.

February is American Heart Month, and while he isn’t a cardiologist, he does see a lot of heart disease in his field- family medicine.

“Healthy lifestyles, including diet and exercise are probably a more potent treatment if you can do it well than any medicine or other intervention we can do.”

He said there are hurdles like having a family history of heart disease or the temptation for high fat, high carb meals on the go. Staying active in the winter is certainly possible, just more of a challenge.

“It’s hard to make those changes.”

He coaches lifestyle classes and drives home the many benefits of diet and exercise. Heart disease is still the number one medical issue in America but he said that these changes can also help with numerous ailments like arthritis and anxiety.

“You can pretty much look at almost every single health problem and it would be better if people had healthy diet and exercise in their treatment.”

He said that diet and exercise are some of the best bangs for your buck, potentially eliminating medication or at least decreasing it in some cases.

“With the right strategies, it’s very possible.”

According to Forman, one of the best strategies to cement positive changes to your health is be realistic, start slow and build your way up. Getting a routine down-no matter how simple- gets you on the right path for something big down the road. He often tells people, “You don’t climb a latter by starting on the 12th rung.”

“If the only change you can make today is to do five minutes on the treadmill- Wednesday at 3 o’clock- that’s where you start. When that becomes easy, you ask yourself, how can I add a little more to it?”

Forman is a rather active outdoorsman, biker and mountaineer but he also fits swimming into his schedule. Gym memberships, walking in sport centers, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, and public pools were among his top ways to stay active in the winter time. Even in his down downtime, he hangs out with his dogs. He’s always had a strong connection to dogs and affinity for nature- so naturally, he began mushing. It’s been 20 years since he started mushing and he isn’t sure if he will ever stop. He said it’s in his blood.

“When things go wrong they go wrong- like anything- if it was all easy then it wouldn’t be as satisfying.”

He got into mushing by helping a friend, Robert Benson, a physician in Anchorage with his Iditarod team. At one point, Forman moved to Seward and his friend was getting more competitive and breeding dogs. He had some to spare and Forman started to build a team. He ran through the racing circuit for a while but preferred to mush recreationally. He said that actively competing demands a lot of time with the dogs, cycling through younger ones to be the fastest. He’d doesn’t want to give them up after they’re 6 or 7.

“I didn’t want a team with 500 dogs.”

The team may be getting older and slower but rest assured- they’re active. They regularly take 25 mile outings and explore the vast Alaskan wilderness. When dogs get older and tired, they retire into his house among his other animal comrades. Even some of the running dogs will be in his house.

“I have a lot of dogs in my house,” he laughed.

He usually has a dog in his office, typically Ginger. The doorway has a gate so Ginger won’t be wandering around. Patients can come and visit his furry coworker if they want. He said that over time, he’s noticed the dog’s presence can be very therapeutic for people.

“They smile and pet the dog, and it makes them feel more comfortable. You can really see the difference after they’ve talked to the dog a little bit verses before.”

It does take a lot of time and energy. – he can’t just go camping without having someone take care of his gaggle of canines.

“My dogs are with me for life,” Forman said.

He said he may retire in about 5 years, let his team retire out and go down to having just a handful of dogs- then he’d be able to get out a camp more. After 20 years however, mushing is very much pumping through his veins.

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“We’ll see what happens in 4 or 5 years and maybe in 5 years I’ll be getting out of mushing but it’s a hard thing to walk away from. There’s no 12 step program.”