Hooked on Primary Care with Sarah Sams, MD, FAAFP

Growing up on a farm, I was planning on becoming a veterinarian.

I often found myself helping to deliver baby animals on the farm, so when I made the decision to attend medical school instead of veterinary school, I was sure that obstetrics was going to be my path; nothing seemed more fulfilling than helping to bring new life into the world.

But as I started my clinical rotations as a third-year medical student, I was able to participate in a rural family medicine rotation. During that month, I lived with the local family physician, worked in his office, rounded on inpatients in the hospital and attended home visits as well as hospital staff meetings. I listened as the doctor took calls from patients in the evening from his home.

As I met patients in his office, I was made aware of the connections between these patients, including which patients were family members and who worked together at local businesses. I found myself interested not only in the medical problems that these patients presented with, but also how their medical issues impacted their lives. The connections with their stories fed my soul. But I asked myself, “how could I give up on the joy of bringing life into the world?”

Not long after, I attended a brown bag lunch lecture by a family physician who still delivered babies. My love for family connections and my joy in delivering babies came together in one specialty: family medicine. I’ve had the privilege of caring for three- and four-generation families, delivering two generations in several of those families. I found Dr. William Osler’s quote to be true, “It is much more important to know what sort of a patient has a disease than what sort of a disease a patient has.”

Sarah Sams, MD, FAAFP
Board member, American Academy of Family Physicians