PHYSICIANS ON THE FRONT LINE
BEYOND THE CLINIC
AUTHOR Daniel Dierfeldt, DO, FAAFP
I
wasn’t raised in what I would consider a
“military” family. Both of my grandfathers
served in the military, one in the Army
and the other in the Navy, but neither
made a career out it. I can remember my
granddaddy telling a few Army stories
throughout the years, and I remember an
old Navy picture my grandpa had hanging
in his home office, but neither one of them
spent much time reminiscing about military life. The same can be
said for my upbringing around medicine. My mother was a medical
assistant here in Louisville, the only medical person in my family.
Throughout high school and most of college, my summers
consisted of working in the medical records department in the same
practice where my mother worked. Each and every patient had a
paper chart, as electronic medical records were not yet mandated.
My job was to tidy up the rows upon rows and shelves upon shelves
of medical records that became disheveled, even out of order, as
the medical records clerks grabbed them all day. I can remember
going home some nights and reading my mother’s Merck Manual or
Taber’s Medical Dictionary to try and learn more about medicine.
Over time I slowly became interested in a career in the medical
10
LOUISVILLE MEDICINE
profession, and by my junior year in high school I had pretty much
decided that I was going to become a physician.
My decision to join the military seems to have its early roots in
an encyclopedia set my parents gave me when I was young. There
were times when I would pull out volumes specific to each branch of
the military. I think I was most interested in looking at the pictures
of fighter jets, tanks and aircraft carriers. The Marines tried their
best to recruit me out of high school, but I decided to stick with my
original plan to attend medical school with a little “encouragement”
from my mother. While an undergraduate student I came across a
flyer detailing a military scholarship for medical school. I remember
thinking, “How perfect is this?” Not only will this give me the
opportunity to practice medicine, but it would allow me to do so
while serving my country. Not to mention it would allow me to avoid
taking on a large student loan debt. I contacted my local military
recruiters and ultimately decided to join the Air Force.
Aside from a couple of fourth year clerkships with military
residency programs, my medical school experience was void
of military influence. After graduation, I began active duty and
completed my family medicine residency at Scott Air Force Base in
Illinois. The focus of my residency program was just like any other,