Meet Abby Guirguis | Family Nurse Practitioner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Abby Guirguis and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Abby, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?

Cut and dry, I started my own healthcare practice because I wanted to do it my way! I wanted to create an easy way for patients to get customized, fast, easy, and affordable solutions for their same-day healthcare needs.

I have always been a better leader than I am a follower. I am not afraid of much. I have been a social butterfly since day one! I love interacting with all kinds of people. I pursued healthcare to apply my attributes to serving others when they need it most.

Across the country, there is often little opportunity for Advanced Practice Nurses to make the differences we wish we could in healthcare. There is a lack of nursing leadership, which is especially true in large organizations. We are sometimes thrown in the mix, and unfortunately not understood or properly utilized in the ways we can be most valuable. Here is why I love being a Nurse Practitioner: Nursing is a unique science in terms of theory, educational pathway, and on-the-job experience. It must be lived to be fully understood. Knowledge doesn’t come from a traditional medical school and residency-based education. It comes from years of watching the human response, medicating patients, making mistakes and learning from them, providing therapeutic interventions, interacting with families, managing care with outside organizations, learning from multidisciplinary teams of Doctors, Pharmacists, Imaging Specialists, Physical Therapists, other Allied Health professionals… the list goes on and on! We learn a little bit of everything from many different perspectives. We hold graduate degrees at either the Master or Doctorate levels, which allow us to prescribe and treat, but we more importantly build upon those years of necessary experience. We can become very qualified, well-rounded providers in fields like Family Medicine.

I have worked in the healthcare industry for twelve years now. I started out as an inpatient Staff Nurse, and became a Family Nurse Practitioner in 2016.

Although I have also worked with surgical specialists, most of my advanced practice career has been in the Urgent Care setting. I have witnessed hundreds of patients dissatisfied with the way basic healthcare is delivered-whether that is those long wait times and lines at the ER and Urgent Care Centers, or merely the inability to get basic Primary Care appointments in a timely fashion. I have listened to patients complain for years about how providers walk in and out of exam rooms without listening to them or giving them the individualized attention they need. I have had similar experiences as a patient, myself.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many healthcare practices began offering video visit appointments (much like Zoom calls and Facetime sessions) in lieu of in-person visits. I had the opportunity to gain a great deal of experience with this concept through my employers, conducting online visits through secure videoconferencing software. I learned that although some patient visits certainly need to happen in-person, a vast majority of basic Urgent Care and Family Medicine

patients can be safely and effectively managed through video consultation alone. It’s not rocket science!

In 2021, I moved to the state of Florida and gained autonomous practice authority as a Nurse Practitioner shortly thereafter. This gave me the opportunity to practice and prescribe independently, as well as the ability to open my own practice. Why not?

The process of starting a business is TOUGH. It is a lot to learn, and it takes forever. I constantly consult expert opinion in areas like law, insurance, software, and advertising. There is always a struggle somewhere, somehow, and with some people. That is just the nature of the beast. You really have to rely on others, and you cannot give up. I have learned to take one day at a time and to continuously re-evaluate and modify as things move along. After all, patience is a virtue!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I started Tropical Telemedicine in late 2022, which I call an “Online Urgent Care and MORE”. The name sort of speaks for itself.

Rather than visiting a physical location like an Urgent Care or Primary Care office, patients can use Tropical Telemedicine to do it all ONLINE from any computer or smart phone with camera capabilities. Patients just log on to the website: tropicaltelemedicine.com, and book same-day virtual appointments. They can secure payments online, complete their paperwork, and log in to a secure videoconferencing chat room, where an experienced Family Nurse Practitioner is on the other end. Although I personally reside in Sarasota, Florida, Tropical Telemedicine accepts and treats patients across the entire state of Florida. In fact, most patients I see are from elsewhere in the state. Patients can be seen from the comfort of their own homes. Vacationers visiting our state are also welcome. The only stipulation is that patients must be physically located in the state of Florida at the time of their online visits.

I see patients of all ages for most of the same conditions treated by Urgent Care Centers and Primary Care physicians, as well as some other various services. It is a little bit of everything. I treat everyday illnesses (coughs, colds, infections, rashes, UTIs, STDs, etc.). I also provide medication refills, referrals, lab and imaging orders, birth control options, as well as low-cost men’s health services, cosmetic skincare, and weight loss services. My business is the perfect solution for busy people who just need to get from point A to point B without all the hassle. This includes those who cannot get short-notice PCP appointments, busy moms, Snow Birds, and vacationers.

Cash pay visits are $100. Traditional Florida Medicare and traditional Florida Medicaid are also accepted.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I couldn’t be where I am today without all the people who have believed in me and pushed me to succeed. It took a village for me….. trust me!

I am so grateful for my parents, UC, OSU, and other various Ohio scholarship foundations who helped fund my education over the years to make success even possible in the first place.

The University of Cincinnati, The Ohio State University and Cleveland Clinic (all nationally-ranked teaching hospitals where I was educated and trained) were so wonderful in a million ways. I have so many good professors, preceptors, mentors, nurses, doctors and staff to thank. Each and every day of my healthcare education and career has been a valuable learning experience in some way. I was lucky enough to have had two opportunities to work alongside two very well-respected collaborating MDs early my career, Dr. Arick Forrest at Ohio State and Dr. Francis Papay at Cleveland Clinic, who are not only renowned surgeons, but excellent businessmen as well. Both served as chairmen and administrators during the time I worked for them. Both saw the whole picture. They helped me learn healthcare behind the scenes, as a business, and how to develop the necessary skills of a compassionate leader. I am also thankful for my wonderful husband, Amir. He is a Dentist and entrepreneur who has achieved tremendous professional success at an impressively young age. I have so much respect for his hard work and kind nature. He has not only set good example for me, but has helped promote strength and confidence in me, and coached me through the basics of setting up a business for the first time.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I am fairly new to the sunshine state, but I do know the things I love so far!!

Hop around and experience a little bit of everything. Each Florida town is so unique and has its own personality. Rent a convertible and experience it all.

In Miami, stay at the FountaineBleau and pretend you’re a real-life Bond girl (one of the movies was shot there I guess). The seafood tower at Joe’s Stone Crab was one of the best meals of my life! Make your way along the Gulf Coast and stop where I live, Sarasota. Spend your time at the most beautiful beaches and go boating. Have some margaritas on Siesta Key when it’s not too busy. Meaney’s Mini Donuts is a place I secretly stop a lot when nobody is looking. Just get the basic ones with powdered sugar- they’re the best. Check out the Ringling Museum and all of the history of the old circus town. Eat at Selva, my favorite date spot downtown, and get their one-of-a-kind appetizer that combines tuna, watermelon and the best sauce ever.

ALL the Italian food is good in both Sarasota and Naples.  Bern’s Steakhouse in Tampa is also a must.

Go to Clearwater at some point and see more beautiful beaches. Eat at the Meat Market there.

I also had the coolest experience in Cedar Key once several years ago. The town is old and quaint with the best oyster bars. It is like something from a movie. We took out an airboat on the swamps and caught redfish, which was an experience I will never forget. Some of the restaurants there will cook your catch for you! Other than that, there is an acclaimed wine festival I hear about in Disney. I haven’t been there since childhood, but I really want to go back and check that out, along with Epcott.

Website: tropicaltelemedicine.com

Instagram: instagram.com/tropicaltelemedicine

Facebook: facebook.com/tropicaltelemedicine

Youtube: youtube.com/tropicaltelemedicine

Image Credits
Stephanie Dubsky