Dr. Cassius Drake, MD
How Science, Trauma, Healing Arts, & Creative Therapies Forged A Lifelong Mission to Help Those Who Suffer
Cassius Drake MD
Medical Director, The Drake Center
Cornell University BS
University of Texas Medical School, Medical Degree
William Beaumont Hospital Residency Emergency Medicine
Board Certified Emergency Medicine
Certified Medical Ketamine Provider Integrative Psychiatry Institute
Medical Director Henry Ford Brownstown Emergency Department
Dr. Drake is the Medical Director of The Drake Center
Board certified in emergency medicine, he earned a bachelor's degree from Cornell University and his medical degree from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. Residency trained in emergency medicine at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, MI, Dr. Drake has treated tens of thousands of patients over a two decade career.
Dr Drake’s Journey: The Incomplete Science of Healing
Dr. Drake spent twenty years serving as both a clinician and award winning leader in multiple emergency departments caring for tens of thousands of patients. While there was excitement in saving lives, Dr. Drake always felt there was more to healing than science could provide or knew.
Dr Drake saw people suffer traumatic events and injuries for many years. He understood that patients needed care beyond what a hospital environment could give.
Faced with his own physical challenges as a result of the stressful work of the ER, he began his own journey of healing of not just the body, but the mind and ultimately the spirit.
Thousands of Patients
During his time in the ER, Dr. Drake became keenly aware of the severe impact emotional distress and mental illness can have on a patient's overall function and physical health. While some patients had an active life threatening emergency, many who presented to the ER had different needs. These patients have physical symptoms which are secondary to an emotional cause. The patient with an anxiety attack who suddenly feels like they can't breathe for example or the migraine sufferer who just can't get a handle on why their headaches come so frequently and insidiously.
These patients needed different medicine. Invariably patients in this condition find all testing to be normal and are frequently told there is nothing wrong with them. Or, they do not have an acute life threatening problem and there is little more that can be done for them.
A Holistic View on Recovery
Over time he came to realize that the missing piece for these patients is the failure to address and educate them on the impact their emotional state can have physically. This is especially true when emotional stress is long term, unrecognized or suddenly heightened due to unforeseen circumstances. In these cases, a discussion regarding emotional stress and how it can be the underlying cause for an intractable physical problem with guidance on how to relieve that distress, was often profoundly impactful for the patient.
Not immune to this paradigm himself, Dr. Drake after multiple spine surgeries related to the extreme stress of emergency medical work and a very real case of professional burnout, underwent his own journey of healing of his physical body as well as his emotional and spiritual states. Now fully on the other side of his own transformative journey, Dr. Drake brings all of his passion, accumulated wisdom and knowledge of the healing arts to his work for the patients of the Drake center
Awards / Achievements / Associations
Press Ganey Summit award for patient satisfaction
Featured Physician: Untold Stories of the ER
Humanitarian
