A Happy Family Doctor

I have to say I’m a happy doctor.  It’s not uncommon for me to be asked the question, “Would you choose family medicine again if I had to do it all over again?”  Even more common is, ” Would you choose medicine if I had to do it all over again?”  Two great questions, and ones I’ve actually pondered over the years.

In medical school I pretty much enjoyed every rotation and although I was reasonably talented at surgery but learned quickly that I just didn’t love surgery.  I had friends who went on to become surgeons who felt that being in the operating room was where they wanted to spend their career.  They loved the technical aspects of surgery, found that studying the nuances of anatomy fascinating, and were naturally drawn to surgical specialties  I on the other hand found this fun, but not something I wanted to be the focus of my career. That made it fairly easy to decide not to be a general surgeon, cardiothoracic surgeon, neurosurgeon, or plastic surgeon.  Still I considered ENT surgery and urology, specialties where office based practice is combined with operative time.  Pediatrics and OBGYN were pretty easy to exclude.   In the limited experience of pediatrics and internal medicine I found the training so focused on minutia, studying rare disorders and just felt they were boring.  Family medicine had the breadth of scope that appealed to me.   Despite the lack of encouragement from my east coast Boston counselors, who suggested that I was a strong student and could get a “good” residency and not “have” to choose family medicine, I accepted a FP residency in the Army at Madigan Army Medical Center (MAMC).

Despite the mind-numbing hours, sleep deprivation, and constant subservient position of family medicine residents to the residents in the specialties where we shared rotations, I loved the training. Still, coming out of residency I was pretty sure I’d take another residency soon and change specialty. I thought I’d use the Army as a vehicle for a second residency or advanced training after a brief tour as a FP.   As a resident I had little chance to develop the types or physician-patient relationships that make being a family doctor so rewarding.

Then I went to practice family medicine at Keller Army Hospital at the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY.  There I pretty much fell in love with being a family physician.  The relationships with patients, especially maternity care and care of older retirees was fulfilling, and my feelings reversed course dramatically.  I found that I was really good at managing chronic diseases, and at working with anxious, depressed and grieving patients.  I did not find the repetition of seeing what we sometimes call the worried well frustrating, and decided that family medicine may be my calling.  I found as a family physician I was a happy doctor.

After leaving the Army, I came to practice in Puyallup at Sound Family Medicine.  I continued to enjoy family medicine, and also learned that the business of medicine was something I enjoyed and for which I had some aptitude.  Overall family medicine has been a great career for me.

So back to the initial questions:

1. Would I Choose Family Medicine if I had to do it all over again?  I don’t know.  It would be a much tougher choice knowing what I know now.  The financial advantages of other specialties would be very alluring, but I suspect in the end I’d probably choose the same course over again.
2. Would I choose medicine again?  That’s easier.  I like being a doctor.  I like the work, the social position, and most of all the relationships with colleagues and patients.  Easy question. I’d choose medical school again without any second thoughts.

Now, if you ask me would I encourage a high school graduate now to choose medicine?  Tougher question, and maybe the topic for future musings.  Still I am a happy doctor, and have no regrets.

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