Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Changing times

As most of you already know, I'm a Sign Language interpreter.  99% of my freelance work these days includes medical appointments.

The other day I was "terping" for a client and I started thinking about the specialty field.

We're very fortunate to have many specialists that practice here in little ole Allegan but it didn't used to be that way.

When I was a kid and my dad practiced medicine here he was a GP; general practitioner.  He set bones, delivered babies, diagnosed serious illnesses/conditions, etc.

The only specialist, to my recollection, that we had in those days was a general surgeon.

The other big change for Allegan is the Allegan Medical Clinic.  My father was a "stand-alone-doc."  Now, with the exception of two physicians (that I know of) everyone is hanging out at the clinic.

Another little issue (I'm not complaining - just an observation) is that the medical people don't have the opportunity to look you in the eye anymore.  Everyone has a laptop that needs tending to.  All your history and current problems are entered with no eye contact.

There are many benefits to the new setups, for sure, it's just a change and difficult for many.

There's no looking back so we need to buck up and move forward.


                 The "boy doctor" came to Allegan in 1949.

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