Walk With a Doc

Walk with a Doc was started in 2005 by Dr. David Sabgir, a cardiologist in Columbus, Ohio. Frustrated with his inability to affect behavior change in the clinical setting, Dr. Sabgir invited his patients to go for a walk with him in a local park on a spring Saturday morning. To his surprise, over 100 people showed up, energized and ready to move.

Since that first event in 2005, Walk with a Doc has grown as a grassroots effort with a model based on sustainability and simplicity. A doctor gives a brief presentation on a health topic and then leads participants on a walk at their own pace. Healthy snacks, coffee, and blood pressure checks are an optional part of a Walk with a Doc event. The Walk added an Executive Director in 2009 and focused on building a program that could easily be implemented by interested doctors in other cities around the country. As a result of these efforts, the reach of Walk with a Doc now extends all around the globe with over 500 chapters worldwide, including Walk with a Future Doc chapters led by medical students!

Until now, there was no walk with WWAD going on in Birmingham, but as of January 8th, there will be! As part of her starting a lifestyle medicine practice, Alabama Lifestyle Medicine, Dr. Gudel will be leading a walk, the first of which will be Saturday, 1/8/22 at 10am at Railroad Park! This will then continue at least every other Saturday morning, indefinitely.

Walking was recognized by the Surgeon General of the United States of America as one of the single most important things we can do for our health. Will you join us in making health and happiness accessible for all? We will see you at Railroad Park on January 8th at 10am!