14
doc • Winter 2014
Kentucky
Physician Health and Well Being
Helping Ourselves,
Helping our Patients
By John A. Patterson
MD, MSPH, FAAFP
Debbie Stanley planned to
eventually return home to
Eastern Kentucky to practice pediatrics after completing her residency in the 1980s. Being the
mother of a small child, she decided to first
work part-time in Lexington for a community health clinic affiliated with the health
department. She was amazed by the number
of uninsured children in Fayette County
that needed care. She is now the medical
director of that clinic, which is now named
HealthFirst Bluegrass.
Administrative issues, rather than patient
care, have been her greatest source of job
stress. Stanley recalls a negative work environment years ago when she was barely able
to get up and go to work due to interpersonal conflicts and lack of administrative
support. Seeing patients has actually been
an antidote to job stress. She loves serving
people in need and making a difference in
their lives. She feels privileged as a physician to have such an opportunity, and says,
“I love taking care of patients. That’s what
keeps me going.”
She is also sustained by family. Her daughter
is a pediatrician and now works with her as
a professional colleague. She loves gardening
and finds digging in the dirt to be healing
and therapeutic. She says, “There’s something spiritual about planting and seeing
things grow.” She also loves screaming and
yelling at UK basketball games.
Despite the emotional and financial stresses
of medical education, she knows most
medical students and young physicians have
good hearts. Stanley believes that the more
they are exposed to opportunities to serve
patients in need, the more they will stay
connected to their initial inspiration to be a
physician.
John Roth became a physician to help
people. As a busy dermatologist in private
practice, he finds his administrative responsibilities far more frustrating and stressful
than patient care itself. It took him several
years to realize he had to schedule regular
out-of-town travel to recharge his batteries.
He knows about how long he can go before
practice frustrations impact his well being
and the quality of his patient care. Looking
forward to travel gives him a goal to shoot
Dr. Debbie Stanley
for, knowing he can hang on until then.
Wherever he has gone internationally, he
hasHealthFirst Bluegrass Medical Director
consistently recognized how fortunate
he and his patients are to live in this counPediatrician
try. He returns with an appreciation of our
healthcare system, despite its deficiencies
and frustrations.
Deborah Stanley MD
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