Living Car Free - Car Free Doctor

"When Dr. Erin Ochoa, a transplant pathologist at UPMC, moved here from the Bronx, N.Y., with her husband and her 6- and 8-year-old daughters, they were determined to find a way to live in Pittsburgh without a car. People told her: "You can't be a doctor and not have a car. You can't have children and not have a car." This did not deter her, as she had gotten along fine in New York City without one.
Dr. Ochoa, 36, went online early in the summer and bought a couple of mountain bikes. She and her husband, Michael, 38, now shop for groceries with big backpacks. Their daughters have bikes, and when the family goes from their home in Oakland across town, they take the bus. She said they rented a studio apartment for a month in Paris this summer with the money they would have spent buying and maintaining a car."
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

I find this clip from a recent article particularly interesting because the stereo-typical car-free person seems to have no kids or has an "alternative" job that is more accepting of bike culture. Here is someone with a family in a "mainstream" profession that is making it work.

I met a doctor on the city bus last year. It was the first time he had been on the bus and he had some questions, which is how we got to be talking. He had just arrived in town and was on his way to work in the emergency room of one of the hospitals here. He said he wasn't planning to get a car if he didn't have to. I guess downtown parking in the hospital district isn't real cheap or convenient for most doctors either.

I'm an optometrist and I rely on a car very rarely. In fact, I plan to sell my only car within a month. I work at a hospital and work part time in private practice. During the 9 years of school, internships, and residency, being without a car would have been almost impossible. I am finally at a point now, where I am settled enough to feel comfortable without a car. My house is one mile from the hospital, and 5 miles from private practice. Both locations are bike friendly, and on the city bus route.

Professionally, going car free will leave me with a few challenges to overcome. I am fortunate that my job is normally "9 to 5", with no surprise calls from patients in the middle of the night. The main problem will be handling my "on-call" weekends. During those weekends I need to be able to get to the office within 30-60 minutes. Optometrists rarely have life or death situations on our hands, and it's not like I ever have to jump in a car and rush to the ER. I'm pretty sure the solution will be renting a car during those on-call weekends, if only to make sure I can be accessible for the patient's convenience.

The second problem may sound vain; not owning a car might look unprofessional in some circles. I'm happy to say that I am at the point where I just don't care what certain colleagues think. My employers already know that I'm car free, and are very accepting. Patients really don't have to know, and I doubt they would care anyway. Other than my employers and patients, nobody else is really a concern.

A colleague of mine is an ER physician and has been virtually car free for several years. His wife and children do own cars. He takes the city bus to work. I don't think he has any on call hours. Another friend of mine is an internist, specializing in pulmonary medicine. He's a fellow cyclist, and he and I used to cycle into work together on occasion. I once suggested that he go car free, but he tells me that it would be impossible. His call hours are too frequent, and of course, his patients are always too critical to not have a car.

So those are my 2 cents...