As a medical doctor who secretly battled his own addiction to alcohol and drugs for many years, Jim's alcoholism literally affected the lives and well-being of others. Jim grew up with an abusive father whose military career relocated the family many times during Jim’s childhood and adolescence. He faced additional suffering during countless hospitalizations for medical conditions related to hemophilia, a rare bleeding disorder in which the blood does not clot properly. Turning to booze and drugs during his high school and college years, Jim’s escalating alcoholism accompanied his medical degree, internship, and residency into his position as a OB/GYN at a major hospital. Turns out that the hospital culture, with its hard-working and hard-drinking doctors and nurses, further fueled Jim’s lifestyle with alcohol and cocaine.

The effects of constant use soon threw Jim’s personal life into turmoil, replete with three failed marriages and ever-deepening despair. Professionally, his drug and alcohol- impaired medical practice became a severe threat to the safety of his patients. By the time Jim was intervened upon by his hospital and placed in rehab, he had had enough and was desperate to recover. Thankfully, he found a strong AA community that offered him the ego-deflation and no-nonsense support he needed to get sober. As he grew in that community, he built a humble new life in which he could be of real service to others, especially those in the medical profession who find it difficult to admit defeat by the disease.

Jim’s story offers a rare perspective we don’t hear often in ordinary AA meetings, especially since many physicians attend closed meetings amongst their own. But his involvement and service as an active participant in everyday AA is proof positive of a man whose AA program is on solid ground. I’m grateful Jim’s here with me on AA Recovery Interviews and believe you’ll find this podcast to be both enlightening and reassuring. So please relish the next hour with my friend and AA brother, Jim G.

[This is an encore of Episode 67, originally released March 2, 2022].

If you’ve enjoyed my AA Recovery Interviews series and my Big Book podcast, have a listen to Lost Stories of the Big Book, 30 Original Stories Missing from the 3rd and 4th Editions of Alcoholics Anonymous. It’s an engaging audiobook I narrated to bring these stories to life for AA members who’ve never seen them. These timeless testimonials were originally cut to make room for newer stories in the 3rd and 4th Editions. But their vitally important messages of hope are as meaningful today as when they were first published. Many listeners will hear these stories for the first time. Lost Stories of the Big Book is available on Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. It’s also available as a Kindle book and in Paperback from Amazon if you’d like to read along with the audio.

I also invite you to check out my latest audio book, “Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism.” This is the word-for-word, cover-to-cover reading of the First Edition of the Big Book, published in 1939. It’s a comfortable, meaningful, and engaging way to listen to the Big Book anytime, anyplace. Have a free listen at Audible, i-Tunes, or Amazon.

[Disclaimer: AA Recovery Interviews podcast strictly adheres to AA’s 12 Traditions and all General Service Office guidelines for safe-guarding anonymity on-line. I pay all podcast production costs. AA Recovery Interviews and my guests do not speak for or represent AA at-large. This podcast is simply my way of giving back to AA that which has been so freely given to me. -Howard L.]