Healthy Steps

Health-conscious walkers chat and stride with Cleveland Clinic doctors.

A typical doctor’s visit doesn’t allow much time for conversation. But every Saturday morning, Clevelanders can bend a doctor’s ear while walking a 3-mile course around a woodsy reservation (or shopping mall, if it’s cold) and get the skinny on timely topics, such as the influenza vaccine or breast cancer screening.

Walk with a Doc includes the fit and those hoping to get fit, moms pushing strollers, and pet owners walking their dogs. Richard Kratche, MD, Medical Director of the new Cleveland Clinic Twinsburg Family Health & Surgery Center, has been one of the walking docs since the program began in October 2009. Walking with groups of six to 35, he has fielded questions on everything from weight-loss techniques to coping with a sibling’s depression.

“When I’m walking and chatting with people, it’s a completely different level. It’s very comfortable and very relaxed,” Dr. Kratche says.

He hopes people will come to appreciate the importance of exercise as a strategy for health and well-being. “If I can get past treating disease and actually help people stay well, that’s where I would like to be.”