Hobbies: A prescription for relaxation and peace

Despite demanding schedules, medical professionals find time for fun-filled activities.

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While those in the medical field are driven workaholics who make many sacrifices, they still understand the importance of maintaining a work-life balance. Here’s a look at what two doctors and one physician’s assistant enjoy doing outside the office.

Take a hike

The towering, snow-capped Rocky Mountains pervade the landscape in Colorado. They’re a big draw for avid hiking enthusiasts such as Dr. Marja Mehr of The Main Street Dentists in Leesburg.

For her, it can be therapeutic to leave behind the busy world of operating a successful dental practice and travel to Telluride, a former silver mining town in southwestern Colorado known for its soaring alpine peaks and red-rock canyons.

“It’s refreshing—like a spiritual experience for me,” says Marja, a 1989 graduate of Leesburg High School. “It’s totally different than Florida because you can exercise outside without getting sweaty because the air is dry. It also cools down at night, and the sunsets are really breathtaking.”

So breathtaking, in fact, that Marja visits Telluride several times each year. She and her husband, Jon, also a dentist at The Main Street Dentists, hike there during the summer. In the fall, she and several close friends make a “girls’ trip” when the leaves change colors, and then she returns during Christmas break for a snow-skiing trip with her three children.

“Telluride is located in a box canyon, so there’s a beautiful wall of mountains and trails,” she says.

Another favorite pastime is traveling to Gainesville on fall Saturdays and tailgating before Florida Gators football games. For her, tailgating is a true family affair involving parents, brothers, and cousins.

“A full day at the stadium can be exhausting, but it is also worth every minute to spend quality time with my family,” she says. “We always have such a great time.”

Water volleyball: It serves her well

For Beverly Connolly, a physician’s assistant at MacInnis Dermatology in Leesburg, time away from the office entails getting her feet wet in an increasingly popular sport.

Beverly fell in love with water volleyball after moving to The Villages two-and-a-half years ago. On Saturdays and Sundays, she spends two hours playing the sport at Sea Breeze Regional Recreation Center.

“It’s a great form of exercise because it’s not hard on my knees,” she says. “We play for fun.”

But the games are still competitive, and Beverly has seen her talent spike considerably. In fact, she advanced from basic to intermediate level and now plays designated hitter on her seven-person team.

“The sport is just like volleyball that’s played on a court,” she says. “The idea is to receive the ball and have a setter pass it to a hitter.”

Cold weather does not stop Beverly and other water volleyball fanatics from enjoying the sport.

“I have a long-sleeve wetsuit,” she says. “We really enjoy each other’s company. It’s always great to have people to laugh with yet challenge you at the same time.”

When she’s not playing water volleyball, Beverly enjoys kayaking Silver Springs, Rainbow Springs, and the manmade lakes in The Villages. She also spends time promoting the benefits of eating organic, pesticide-free food.

“Organic food is not well accepted by the medical world,” she says. “I think it’s important to look at a person’s diet before we just start throwing pills at them.”

He can pull strings

Dr. Jeffrey Glover does more than give spinal alignments at his bustling chiropractic office.

During lunch or after work, he sometimes picks up his Fender acoustic guitar and starts strumming away. He’s quite the talent, playing everything from Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” to Hank Williams Jr.’s “Country State of Mind” to John Mellencamp’s “Hurts So Good.” He also performs at home for his wife, who enjoys acoustic songs.

“It’s a great tool for stress relief or just to clear my head,” says Jeffrey, who owns Glover Chiropractic Clinic in Leesburg.

He was bitten by the guitar bug as a freshman at Leesburg High School when he had to enroll in a mandatory fine arts class.

“I couldn’t sing or wasn’t into theater,” he says. “Fortunately, the school offered a course that taught guitar fundamentals. I joined the class and purchased my first guitar at a pawn shop. I got the credit without singing and embarrassing myself.”

While attending chiropractic school, he joined a band called End Range, which performed at house parties. He later bought his Fender acoustic guitar after opening his practice in 2012.

“When I first started, I would be at the office from 8am until 8pm,” he says. “I just needed something to unwind.”

He is also a frequent concertgoer, having attended live performances by Poison, Garth Brooks, and Hank Williams Jr. But his most memorable concert was seeing Australian hard rock band AC/DC.

“They put on such an electric performance,” Jeffrey says. “The only thing is, I have permanent hearing damage.”