Yesterday we had a family gathering at the far west end of the county where I practice on the eastern side. I had driven the route many times before, but it had probably been a couple of years. The forest filled and coastal county has about 64,000 residents and measures almost 2,000 square miles in area.
The drive from my office to the gathering took me through small town after small town. I saw names of places that I usually just see on the fee slip on patient's chart. Despite the rain and wind, which is unfortunately typical of June, the drive was still beautiful and calming.
We pulled into the town of our final destination over an hour after passing by the office. It occurred to me that I really do have patients who drive over fifty miles to see me for their medical care. Now I certainly knew on an intellectual level that they made the trek, but something about driving the route yesterday made me appreciate what an honor that was. To be able to say that our office has patients who drive an hour each way to go to their doctor, and that they have chosen me to be their doctor is just very humbling.
Their dedication of time to spend just a few minutes with me during an office visit is a reminder that for that time I do spend with them, they deserve my full attention without physical interruptions from phone calls or pages, or mental distractions about how many more patients I have to see or what I'm going to have for dinner.
Perhaps I need to drive my county a little more frequently.
The drive from my office to the gathering took me through small town after small town. I saw names of places that I usually just see on the fee slip on patient's chart. Despite the rain and wind, which is unfortunately typical of June, the drive was still beautiful and calming.
We pulled into the town of our final destination over an hour after passing by the office. It occurred to me that I really do have patients who drive over fifty miles to see me for their medical care. Now I certainly knew on an intellectual level that they made the trek, but something about driving the route yesterday made me appreciate what an honor that was. To be able to say that our office has patients who drive an hour each way to go to their doctor, and that they have chosen me to be their doctor is just very humbling.
Their dedication of time to spend just a few minutes with me during an office visit is a reminder that for that time I do spend with them, they deserve my full attention without physical interruptions from phone calls or pages, or mental distractions about how many more patients I have to see or what I'm going to have for dinner.
Perhaps I need to drive my county a little more frequently.
The Country Doctor