Bethesda Magazine Jan/Feb 2026: Walk with a Doc Wheaton, MD
On a sunny Saturday morning in May, nearly two dozen people gather by the main entrance of Brookside Gardens in Wheaton for the monthly Walk with a Doc event. The participants listen to a talk on the benefits of dietary fiber before heading to a trail with three doctors for a stroll and casual chats about everything from stress management to favorite recipe websites.
Dr. Asha Subramanian, a family medicine physician who works with Community of Hope health center in Washington, D.C., and with clients virtually, met Walk with a Doc founder Dr. David Sabgir, an Ohio cardiologist, in 2017 at an American College of Lifestyle Medicine conference. Soon after, Subramanian asked Dr. Aruna Nathan, an internal medicine physician who now works in lifestyle medicine at AbsoluteCare in Prince George’s County, if she’d like to co-found a Montgomery County chapter of Walk with a Doc. The two set out to find a good place to host the organization’s simple format—a brief health talk followed by a group walk. They thought Brookside Gardens’ 1-mile “Heart Smart Trail” loop was ideal for all ages and paces given the trail is stroller-, walker- and wheelchair-friendly.
Subramanian and Nathan spread the word for their first walk in 2018 by emailing patients, hanging flyers in libraries and coffee shops, and reaching out to primary care doctors. They quickly had a core group that attended monthly, and have since watched the outings grow and evolve as people bring friends and family. Now, about 20 people typically attend.
Dr. Marsha Seidelman, a retired pulmonologist who speaks about lifestyle topics at area homeless shelters and to community organizations, joined as a fellow leader in 2022. The three doctors have 80 years of combined experience as physicians and are certified in lifestyle medicine by the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine. Similar to Sabgir, the physicians had grown increasingly interested in ways to help their patients and others address medical conditions through lifestyle choices.
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