Blogs

Prior to starting medical school, I was in basic science research. My area was in fetal lung development, so it was no surprise that when I matriculated into medical school it was with an inner conviction that I would take my research base and expand it clinically by joining the ranks of a relatively new subspecialty: neonatology.

The hills are alive with the sound of … family physicians? Each year, Salzburg, Austria — the town made famous by Mozart and “The Sound of Music” — hosts family doctors from around the world. Here, the American Austrian Foundation (AAF), in partnership with Duke University, hosts bi-annual seminars to foster dialogue and share knowledge among an international audience of family doctors.

Starting residency comes with a lot of expectations. Developing great clinical aptitude requires constantly learning skills and techniques to deliver great patient care, for example learning and applying evidence-based medicine.

As a family medicine physician who has been in practice for many years, I recently found myself dealing with the loss of five of my patients — all of whom were in my care for more than a decade — over the course of just four months.

Duke Family Medicine Center is a place of learning. This fact is evident by the smiling pictures of family medicine residents that line the hallway, the warm introductions of new rotation students, the sound of educational programs from the conference room, and the voices of attendings and preceptors mentoring their students and residents on procedures and treatments.

Every Thursday morning I hop into my car with a fresh cup of coffee and drive northeast out of town. Usually dark outside, much of the “Bull City” is quiet and still in those early morning hours. The streets lead me past Duke University Medical Center and then by the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

While home visiting family for Christmas this year, my husband discovered a gem while poking through one of the old glass-lined book cases which were original to the house. “Look at this!” he exclaimed, and handed me a two-inch-thick volume covered in blue-faded linen.

With the beginning of a new year, many of us create resolutions to do what we have been unable to in the past. We resolve to change our behaviors to lose weight, quit smoking, or write more (check!), but somehow 92 percent of us end up failing.

It is Christmas evening and I have just returned from the annual family gathering and, while tired from the journey, I am filled with gratitude for having another set of memories to add to my life story. There are the long traditions such as always having the family together at our family home.

Recently, a friend sent me an article titled "The 6 Things Millennials Bring Up the Most in Therapy." It was easy to identify with most of the issues brought up in the article, and I found myself relieved to see that these challenges were common among people my age.