DR. LAURA KNOBEL
I was born and raised in Massachusetts. I earned a BS in Biology from Bates College in Lewiston Maine, my MD from Boston University and did my residency in Family Medicine at the Brown University Program in Pawtucket Rhode Island. I am Board Certified in Family Medicine and licensed in the state of South Carolina.
Throughout my career, I have been active on the organizational side of Family Medicine. I held many offices in the Massachusetts Academy of Family Physicians, including President and Chairman of the Board. I served on multiple committees and commissions on the national level, including Chairing the Commission on Continuing Professional Development. I was a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians Board of Directors for three years and also sat on the Board of Directors of TransforMed during that time. I have been to Washington DC multiple times, advocating for better health care for our patients, including this past June to advocate for the Direct Primary Care model.
It was after my time on the Board that I had the opportunity to participate in a pediatric conference held in Hilton Head. I had never been to South Carolina prior to the conference, but came away amazed. Almost a year to the day after the conference, we moved here to Bluffton and have enjoyed every minute of being here, since.
My team and I are embarking on a new adventure as we open our Direct Primary Care Practice. For me, it is a way to go back to the way Medicine used to be, when we could spend time with our patients, getting to know them and their families, without the pressure of having to see 20-30 patients a day. It was a time when the patient and physician decided what type of care was needed, not the insurance company, and when the cost of health care was much more reasonable and the number of forms and reports that needed to be completed was just the note at the end of the visit.
I hope you will join us as we step into this different style of medical care. It is new, but growing, and the patients and physicians who have been doing it so far are quite happy with the way the practices work. I look forward to taking care of you.
ELLIOT CALVERT, MD
I grew up in Irmo, South Carolina. My grandparents were from the low country small towns of Hampton and Allendale, and I have always loved the lower part of the state. Dad’s family were dairy farmers and Mom’s family owned and operated the grocery store in Allendale. It was on the old dairy farm that I learned what it means to live simply and self-sufficiently. I also learned how to work with animals and on farm machinery, cars and motorcycles.
My mom’s parents had a beach house in Bluffton and we all couldn’t wait to be down here every summer. It has always been the place where we feel the most relaxed.
After graduating from Dutch Fork High School in Irmo, I went on to Clemson University where I got a BS degree in Bioengineering. I enjoyed engineering but felt I needed to find a way to help people directly. This led to applying to medical school and in the end, I was accepted to MUSC. It was in medical school that I began to realize that primary care is the place where the important things happen. Strong patient-physician relationships form in a way that is less possible in other specialties and if done well, primary care is where the most important thing in all of medicine is done – preventing disease.
After graduating from medical school, I went on to residency at AnMed in Anderson, SC. It was here that I began to realize that our healthcare system is broken and there must be a better way. I eventually learned about Direct Primary Care and I knew I had to find a way to practice medicine this way.
After three tough years of residency I had graduated as a Board Certified Family Physician, and it was time to figure out what shape I wanted the next few decades to take. My parents had retired and moved to Bluffton 2 years before, and I decided that after being away from them nearly 15 years it was time to move closer to them. I started looking in the area and found a doctor that was well respected and practicing exactly the type of medicine I wanted to practice. I reached out to her and was generous enough to meet with me. A few months later I found myself a part of Dr. Knobel’s practice and I couldn’t be more thrilled and grateful to be doing what I’ve always been called to do in a way that I truly believe is superior to the main stream.
I’m so excited for the future here in Bluffton and for the things that are possible with Direct Primary Care. I feel so fortunate to be starting on this journey providing care the way it should be provided for years to come.