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BLOG: Whose bag is it?
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When I launched this blog I proposed it as one that would be dedicated to topics blending medicine and humanity; topics with personal reflections and without P values, area under the curves, statistics or evidence-based medicine. I wanted to mix my pieces with humor, and at times, with emotional expression as appropriate.
I thought about a title that has to do with the traditional old leather doctor’s bag, a title that would include the two words, “Doctors Bag.”
In the process of searching for a title that would incorporate the words “doctors bag,” two thoughts came to mind.
The first thought took me back to the late 1990s. At the time I was working at Ferguson Medical Group in Sikeston, Missouri, affiliated with Missouri Delta Medical Center. Those years that I spent in beautiful southeast Missouri, early in my endocrinology career, are so cherished and always memorable. At the time, one of the editors of Sikeston’s newspaper, “Sikeston Standard Democrat,” was interested in health education for the public. One of our nursing staff connected me with that editor, and I began writing educational pieces under the heading, “The Doctor’s Bag.” In my archives, I have a few newspaper clips with some of those pieces dating back to 1999.
After settling a couple of states north and east of Missouri to Michigan, I still have sweet memories from those days in Missouri.
We no longer have any of those beautiful old leather black doctor’s bags in the market. Doctors don’t carry doctors’ bags anymore — very few doctors still do house calls. I set out of look for an old doctor’s bag and suddenly, I found it. In one of our conference rooms where we hold our endocrine fellowship teaching sessions, the bag was there on one of the shelves in a cabinet that has old books and other medical tools and antiques. As shown in the picture, the bag has three letters printed in silver permanent ink, “J.F.C.” I spent 6 months trying to track the owner of the bag.
What time period had that doctor practice medicine? How did the bag end up in the teaching building? Finally, I solved the mystery, but, the rest of the story is still to come!