by Melissa LaScaleia
Coastal Concierge Medicine & Aesthetics is a small, private, family medical practice that offers an elevated level of care for patients via concierge services. It is run by Dr. David Weitzman, M.D., who has been practicing medicine in ER and in-patient settings since 1999.
With concierge medicine, patients pay a yearly membership fee and receive benefits like weekend phone support, on-time appointments, and extra time to address all their concerns. The office also accepts insurance patients, and retains an intimate, personal approach and feel for all.
“I’m unique in that I practice medicine in a retro style,” Dr. Weitzman says. “I get to know my patients as people, and create strong relationships with them. It’s the type of warmth you would receive from a country doc, in which appointments are not rushed. It’s one of the reasons we’ve been voted the top practice in the Grand Strand for the past four years. My patients always say things like, ‘You take time with us, listen to us, and take care of us.’”
After his residency, Dr. Weitzman completed a year-long fellowship for advanced family medicine and obstetrics with Dr. William Rodney in Memphis Tennessee.
“Dr. Rodney took me out of the normal trajectory for the doctors of my time frame, in which we told patients what to do, and if they didn’t do it we got rid of them,” Dr. Weitzman says. “He taught me empathy and how not only to be a great doctor, but a good person, a great boss and good administrator. And he probably saved me from being miserable.
“Because of him, I’ve served in a number of administrative roles that I otherwise wouldn’t have. I was a primary care physical manager (PCPM) of the wounded warrior program, and received experience working with people with heavy addictions; and I worked with the Merchant Marine’s and the Coast Guard on policy.”
