The pleasures of being Marcus Welby


Learning to do digital blocks with ultrasound guidance
Conditions:  Con3  Temperature 21°F (windchill 7°F).  Population 915

Although, experience-wise, I feel inadequate to the task of being a primary care doctor, I've enjoyed learning what it might have been like to be a small town doctor in the 1960's.  

Things I like:
  • I have unlimited time with any patient.  There's no pressure to move people in and out.
  • I can write notes that convey the important info and aren't cluttered with details to enhance billing.  The note is exclusively for patient care.
  • I can follow-up with patients easily.  Ask them to come back, they come back.
  • I run into my patients in the galley, doing yoga, in the dorms.  I can see how they're doing even without an appointment.
  • I run the labs, ultrasounds and x-rays on my patients myself. I enjoy thinking about what is necessary and actually doing the work. And I enjoy training the mass casualty team on doing the labs as well.
  • We can easily get almost instantaneous consults from University of Texas when we need them.
  • People tend to be appreciative of the work we do in clinic
Flat Timber (Rebecca's dog) receiving medical TLC
Things I don't like
  • We have a micromanaging boss in Texas.  He's a good clinician but too often plays armchair quarterback, second guessing decisions.
  • There is little privacy in the clinic.  Only one exam room has a door and the rest of the space is open bays so everyone knows everyone else's problems.
  • The rumor mill runs full force all the time.  
But overall, it's like Marcus Welby clinical practice with 2010 technologies and great colleagues.  If McMurdo were closer to home and a bit warmer,  I could imagine doing this for a long time. But in the US, it would be a nightmare.



On a different note, my computer died and my phone is currently stuck in Christchurch (I needed to update my medical apps with wifi to keep them running so sent my phone with a Medevac).  So I have no ability to check in at Stanford.    It's liberating and anxiety-provoking simultaneously.  



Comments

Eric said…
The dog appears a bit under nourished
It may be the photo angle
I am not sure
December 6, 2019 at 1:09 PM
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