About Dr. Elisabeth Lawler — Northward Health Direct Primary Care

Why I practice this way.

I grew up in a college town in central Illinois, but I spent nearly all of my childhood summers visiting my mother's family in Bangkok, Thailand, a metropolis almost exactly halfway around the world. Growing up between two very different cultures shaped how I think of family and the range of values people hold. It also taught me that health is much more than what we can measure in a doctor's visit.

I always knew I wanted to practice medicine, though I took a circuitous route to get there: graduate school, community health work, research, and finally medical school.

Later in my career, I found myself on the other side of medicine. I became an advocate and caregiver for my closest family members as they navigated serious and complicated illnesses. It showed me that a medical condition is never just a problem to be solved. It carries personal and emotional weight, touching a person's values and the people they love. That's why it has to be treated as part of the whole person and their family, not in isolation.

Though I knew the medical system from the inside, I still found it fragmented and overwhelming. That experience deepened my understanding of what my patients go through, and it has shaped how I practice.

After more than a decade in practice, I felt the strain of a system that leaves little room to build the relationship between myself and my patients that good care depends on. I see myself as a partner in my patients' health. That means knowing them well. I want to know their goals for now and for the long term, what motivates them and what matters most to them. The part of medicine I find most rewarding is the human connection and building a trusting relationship, which is where the most change happens. No matter where someone is starting from, I believe there's room to improve their health, in body, mind and spirit.

In direct primary care, there's no insurance billing standing between me and my patients. That means less paperwork, fewer rushed visits, and more time for what actually matters.

I've practiced medicine in Eugene since 2015, and this community has become home in every sense of the word. It's a beautiful place to raise a family. My two daughters keep me busy, and the Pacific Northwest gives us plenty of reasons to be outside.