Tales from the Trenches, A Life in Primary Care

Come along for the professional life journey of Dr. Smith as he weaves together the world of medicine from medical school through the crucial years of internship and training into the work world taking him from Boston to the West Coast. For several years he treats patients in clinics and emergency rooms before joining a multi-specialty group treating spine disorders. He spends the last 25 years in solo private practice in a working class, ethnically diverse area south of San Francisco, dealing with all the issues related to medical care. He dives deeply into the major medical epidemics of the past forty years with personal accounts and interactions of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the obesity epidemic, the increasing diabetes epidemic, the opioid crisis, the advance of dementia in society and a detailed first person account of the Covid-19 pandemic. He chronicles the history of medicine from ancient times to the present allowing the reader to understand that current medical practice is a very recent development since the mid-20th century. Dr. Smith’s in-depth patient stories allows readers to understand the doctor-patient relationship, how doctors really think and the challenges of complex diseases from a humanistic and compassionate viewpoint. This comprehensive account of the life of a primary care physician during the past 40 years will serve as a reference for future doctors to accurately understand the profession during this period in history. He hopes you enjoy his honest perspective, observations and humor!