By LANCE MIHM
lmihm@dailystandard.com
Dr. Michael Josey has found a unique way to occupy the patients
who come to his Celina office.
“What do you usually see when you go in a doctor’s
office? You see medical charts and things like that. I didn’t
want that here,” Josey, 41, of St. Marys, said.
Instead, he decorated his office with a collection of more than
300 Star Trek collectibles and paraphernalia.
Josey thought moving the collection into his office would give
patients something to glimpse at while waiting for the doctor
or would put them at ease.
“I want my patients to relax and not worry about what
the doctor is going to tell them,” he said. “This
was a great way to have stuff for them to look at. There isn’t
a person who isn’t somewhat familiar with Star Trek.”
Josey’s general practice is located in the Celina Medical
Center at 801 Pro Drive. Originally from Canada, he graduated
from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia and worked in a small
town office before coming to the United States.
“I got tired of working 100 hours a week,” Josey
said. “We had three doctors, and we ran everything. The
hospital, the office, the emergency squad.”
Growing up in Canada was partly responsible for Josey’s
fascination with Star Trek.
“We lived in a rural community and we got two television
channels,” he said. “Star Trek came on at 1 p.m.
every Sunday and I never missed it. I was always fascinated
with it because it was so different.”
He began watching the show at 5 years old and immediately began
picking up things for his collection. His collection includes
a picture autographed by the Star Trek Voyager cast, the entire
collection of the Playmates 9-inch dolls, models and bronze
pieces, toys, dioramas, plates, film clips and photographs.
He also has all of the Star Trek movies and episodes on video
cassette and has met the actors who play Deanna Troi and Scottie.
“I enjoyed the original series more. It was more of a
space western type of series. The newer episodes have more of
a soap opera/drama feel to them,” Josie said. “The
thing I’ve always enjoyed about it is the episodes key
on social issues that are big at the time. That’s one
of the reasons I’ve always liked it.”
Josey’s patients also have added to his collection.
“When they find something, they bring it in,” he
said. “It’s kind of funny. A stamp, a marble, all
kinds of little things.”
Even his most prized piece came from a patient. “I had
this guy as a patient. He wasn’t in good health, and he
finally passed away. A couple weeks after his death, his wife
came in and gave me a fly rod with the Star Trek Enterprise
engraved on it. He began working on it to give to me and died
before he finished it. His wife finished it and brought it in.”
Josey said items like that, and all of those in his collection,
do not have a monetary value to him because “it’s
only valuable to a person if they want to buy it. I collect
because it is something I enjoy.”
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