![[ Roberta's Ramblings ]](/images/roberta_rambling.gif){kind=small}
April 1, 1998
Hello OBGYN.netters,
Any of us old enough to remember when The Beatles took over from Elvis are old enough to remember the good old days of medicine. I qualify. My memories are slanted from the patient's perspective but you may find them amusing.
I remember as a kid growing up in the small town of Stoughton, Massachusetts, we had two local doctors that spring to my mind: Dr. Fritz and Dr. McGuirk. I can still see them both in my minds eye like it was yesterday. I always liked going to see Dr. McGuirk much better. He was soft spoken and gentle. He made you feel very comfortable and secure. Maybe being a father of nine himself had something to do with it.
The other doctor, Dr. Fritz, scared me half to death! He was short and round and bald. He was gruff and spoke with an accent. He was as old as dirt (probably fifty at the time) and always dressed as sharp as a tack and neat as a pin in a business suit and tie. Looking back now with 20-20 hindsight there is nothing inherently wrong with any of these things. But remember I was just a kid at the time. A precocious little brat with a vivid imagination.
Due to the loyalties of my self employed florist parents I was often sacrificed on the examining table of whoever happened to be spending the most in my father's flower shop at that time. Unfortunately for me, due to the untimely death of Dr. Fritz's first wife (funeral flowers) and his subsequent remarriage (wedding flowers) I found myself spending more time as his patient than I might have liked.
Looking back I think one of the things that scared me the most about Dr. Fritz was his waiting room. It was filled with his extensive collection of African art from his many travels abroad. Somehow it was just not the most comforting thing as a six year old girl to be sitting there waiting your turn among all the carved masks, spears, and primitive statues. I think I kept imagining the boiling cauldron he must surely have waiting for me behind the examining room door!
His waiting room and office, like most doctors of his day were attached to his home. It was an elegant white Georgian colonial on a side street just off downtown. It was really quite lovely remembering it now. It must have been a pleasant life living and working in that beautiful place. Closing the door each day for an extended lunch (and maybe a nap). Very different from the life of a doctor in 1998.
Sometimes Dr. Fritz' and my paths would cross when he was out in his car doing house calls in our neighborhood. Doing house calls was just what doctors did in those days. He would spy me running around barefoot and stop his car in the middle of the street. I can still hear him to this day, exasperation heavy in his voice, "Roberta Fenton. If you don't put shoes on your feet, soon your feet will get so wide shoes won't fit and you'll have to wear the boxes!"
I didn't listen to him. I now wear a 10 EEE. Damn it, he was right.
Looking back so long ago now, it was a different world altogether. I wonder if perhaps in some ways it wasn't better. I wonder.
Sometime between those days and when I had my first birth experience at twenty-four the landscape of medicine in the United States had changed. Doctors no longer had offices attached to their homes. House calls were a thing of the past. Everyone had moved to large office complexes run efficiently by a staff in white coats. Sole practitioners were dwindling. Yes, Medicine had changed. We thought at the time it was all for the best. I wonder sometimes when I hear the stories from patients and doctors if it really was all for the best.
I recently received a message from one of our OBGYN.net physicians, Joseph Stern, MD that set me to thinking. Joe had just retired after 37 years in medicine. We exchanged several messages and then I received this one from him:
Dear Roberta:
Lying awake for a while last night, I knew I had to finish telling you what I have learned in my life in Medicine. Many other events occurred during my practice, sharing the "stage" and "talk-team" with Sir Patrick Steptoe (father of IVF); meeting Baby Browne, lecturing about and using all kinds of lasers for many indications not yet "discovered" all recorded with 16 mm film as video was not quite out yet; sharing the "stage" with "THE" creme d la creme of the physical world, professorships, giving worldwide CBS Specials, etc.
None were done by me alone. I have learned that, especially when there were those really tough cases we have all experienced, I was blessed by my Heavenly Father. He guided me through it all. He gave me the brain, the talent, the hands and guided me through the rewards of helping others. He has blessed me with His Love and has surrounded me with the truth of the 23rd Psalm. I know this sounds corny, but it is true. I found that out when my gigantic ego took it's first lickin' when I had my 1st triple bypass 20 years ago. I realized that I was not yet finished but my ego slowly came under control. Then I became more effective. Thanks for "listening". My wishes are the same for you.
Joe
Eureka! It came to me after reading Joe Stern's message that there are so many things we can learn about life, medicine, who we are, and where we are heading by listening to the stories of where we have been. We are blessed at OBGYN.net with the wisdom of so many individuals that collectively have practiced medicine for thousands of years!
So I asked Dr. Stern if he would be the first to share his story with us. To tell us what changes he has seen in his four decades of medicine. What conclusions has he drawn, what insights would he like to share. He said yes.
Next week we will launch a new series of articles at OBGYN.net entitled My Life in Medicine. Starting with "My Life In Medicine, A Retrospective", by Joseph Stern, MD.
I am keenly interested in hearing from other medical professionals who have spent many years in medicine and would like to add their story to this retrospective. If you are interested, or know someone whose story we should pursue please write to me at roberta.speyer@obgyn.net and make your suggestion.
Poor Dr. Fritz. I realize now he must have had an extraordinary life. I wish I could record his story but he is gone now and only lives on in memories. In fact I just remembered something else as I typed these lines. He was the one who delivered me 42 years ago last Saturday. Thanks Dr. Fritz, at ten pounds I was quite a piece of work! In fact I still am. ;-)
Roberta
If you have any interesting news, ideas, or questions you would like to share please drop me a line at roberta.speyer@obgyn.net.
4/1/98
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