Hooked on Primary Care with Marc Price, DO
I never wanted to be a family physician. I wanted to be a surgeon. I said I was going to be a surgeon. I told everyone I was going to be a surgeon. I was accepted and began a surgical internship. Dammit, I was going to be a surgeon. That is, until I started to really connect with my patients as a surgical intern providing preoperative and postoperative care, not from my time in the operating room.
I came to realize through those interactions that despite the important work surgeons provide, they really did not know their patients well. And even though the patients were grateful for the surgery, I found they valued the personal interaction with me even more. I was the one allaying their pre-procedure fears or sitting with them bedside after the operation was over, comforting them, listening to them and helping them in their difficult time. It was then that I realized that I was more than just an operator. The care I could provide transcended the punctuated, episodic care provided by a surgeon. I could do more. I could make more of a difference in the lives of those patients and their families. I was in it for the long haul. I was going to be a family physician.
Marc Price, DO
Board-certified family practitioner
Family Medicine of Malta
Mechanicville, NY