Family Practice

"So, Susan, what do you do for a living?" ... "Oh, nice, you're a doctor. What kind are you?" ... "Family Practice, huh. We need more good family doctors. Why did you choose FP?" After answering that question many times and often giving different responses, I think I can finally sum up why I chose to become a Family Doctor.

First of all, I kind of chose it by default. I couldn't decide on anything else because I honestly liked just about everything I did during medical school. I liked suturing and working with my hands during surgery. It was nice working with kids during my pediatric rotation because their medical problems were no fault of their own (unlike some things we see over and over again with adult medicine). Internal medicine was when I really felt like I was a doctor. I loved delivery babies during Ob/Gyn. And although I didn't really like psychiatry, it did cross my mind that because we are in such desperate need for psychiatrists I could probably do it and have the benefit of a nice lifestyle. Although I could have seen myself doing each of those, I hated the thought of giving up the others. That's what was so appealing about family practice, I could do it all.

Another similar reason is that family practice is a pretty flexible field. For example, I can deliver babies, but if in a few years I decide that I don't like getting those calls in the middle of the night anymore, then I can just stop seeing Ob patients in my clinic. Likewise, I can choose to manage rheumatoid arthritis, or heart disease, or hyperthyroidism, or name a disease, but I always have the option to send them to a specialist if it isn't something I feel comfortable managing or if what I try doesn't work. Also, if I find that I really like one aspect of my practice there is the option of making that play a bigger role. For example, family practice physicians can do fellowships in sports medicine, geriatrics, or ob/gyn if they want. Flexibility is a wonderful thing when you're asked to plan the rest of your life at the age of 25.

A third reason is location, location, location. One thing that often keeps people from making the same decision that I have is that it is more difficult to be a family doctor in a city the size of Omaha compared to smaller communities. Omaha family clinics typically are filled with cholesterol and blood pressure checks. The kids go to the pediatricians, the women go to their Ob/Gyns, and the interesting cases get passed off to the specialists. However, we plan to live somewhere much smaller than Omaha. And as difficult as it may be to be a family doctor in Omaha, it is even more difficult to be a specialist in small-town-Nebraska. There simply aren't enough people. And, I love the thought of being a small town doctor. I won't mind running into my patients in the grocery store and making sure things are going well. In my mind, that is what a doctor is.

And finally, the reason I am a family doctor is that is where my personality fits. I have the most fun with the family practice residents, and I feel the most comfortable with the family practice staff. They are the people that ask how Owen and Jason are doing, and try to get rounds done early on Sunday morning so I have a chance to make it to church. That makes such a difference when we spend 80-hours per week together.

So... there's the answer. That's why I'm doing what I'm doing, and so far, I'm loving it!