LP Spring 2018 - 18

L A N C A S T E R M E D I C A L S O C I E T Y.O R G

Passion Outside of Practice
It's our pleasure to highlight a Lancaster City & County Medical Society member's "passion outside of practice"
in each issue of Lancaster Physician. Beyond their commitment to health care, LCCMS members have many
other talents, skills, and interests that might surprise you. In this issue, we're thrilled to feature Stephanie
Mackey, MD, and her passion outside of practice.

Stephanie Mackey, MD
Dermatologist

greyhounds are hyper because they run fast,
nothing could be further from the truth; they are
sweet, gentle, loving dogs that love to sleep.
One particularly sweet hound, Angela, loved
joining us in the basement when we'd work
out. As she aged, she developed some hind leg
weakness and had difficulty getting back upstairs.
I would carry her up, and it was difficult to lift
her. I then decided I needed to get stronger to
more easily transport her. This led to my second
passion-weightlifting.
I started taking a weight training class, Body Pump,
in the summer of 2012. It is a choreographed
high-repetition, endurance-building weightlifting
class set to music. Every three months a new set of
exercises/music is taught. One of my instructors
encouraged me to get certified to teach Body Pump.
Initially, I was hesitant since I had never done
anything like that. However, I became certified in
2013 and have been teaching regularly for several
years now. It has not only made me stronger (and
hence made it easier to lift and carry our hounds),
but also it has enhanced my running and cycling
performance. I love the social aspect of group
fitness as well and have made many friends. That
is a nice benefit since I lack time to socialize due to
the demands of running my own practice. I enjoy
helping others realize their potential, motivating
them, and encouraging them to get stronger-it
blends nicely with my day job of enhancing
people's health, just in a very different way.

Dr. Mackey with Darby, Sammy, and Josie.

Passion Outside of Practice:
Greyhound Rescuing

I rescued my first retired racing greyhound in
2003 after becoming familiar with that breed by
meeting a friend's rescued greyhound. It was a
tough sell to convince my husband to adopt one,
but now he is smitten. In fact, he is the reason
we went from two hounds for several years to
consistently having three!

To date, we have rescued a total of 11 retired
greyhounds. Presently, we are adopted by
eight-year-olds Josie and Darby and five-year-old
Sammy. Sammy is the first male we've had. We
have typically rescued senior greyhounds who
are seven years old or older, as they are harder
to place in homes. Although many people think

LANCASTER

PHYSICIAN

Greyhound rescue is truly a calling, and it
fortunately has led me to better fitness through
strength training. Hounds and humans have
enriched my life immensely. If anyone would like
to learn more about greyhound rescue, feel free to
contact me-and meet my fur kids if you wish.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of LP Spring 2018