Mother Hen

I know I've used numerous sentences throughout this blog to express my trials with small town life and being one of only a few GPs treating the patient population at large. Today I would like to counteract some of those statements. There are definitely benefits to having everything within walking distance, having no stop lights, and, when necessary, transporting myself by vehicle anywhere in town in under 5 minutes. From a GP perspective, there is definitely an upside to the continuity I obtain with my patients. I have now been here long enough that patients are making the rounds again for repeats of their medications. In doing so, I get to take one step further in knowing them, and in turn, them knowing me. You must realize the clinic I'm working for has gone through a lot of changes in the past eight months, most of which have revolved around a change in GPs from permanent, to locum, to nonexistent for a while. The fact that the patients see the same doctor two times in a row is as much a delight for them as it is for me. This past week I was greeted with several examples of gratitude for my continuity. One lady presented me with a homemade fruit loaf simply for making a phone call to get her the surgery she desperately needed. Another lovely lady made a special trip from home, aside from her scheduled clinic visit, to inform me about the local knitting club, thus feeding my fiber arts fancy. Most surprising of all, a very sweet elderly gentleman called me at the clinic Tuesday morning wanting to drop by some freshly plucked duck that he had shot over the weekend. All stemming from a simple conversation in which he mentioned he was going duck hunting and my reply of a culinary like for duck.

It makes you wonder, who's really taking care of whom.