by Jared Rutecki
Monday afternoon, students in
Irvine 194 were treated to more than just lunch — they also were
treated to an insightful and humorous presentation by Thomas
Told, D.O., president of the American College of Osteopathic
Family Physicians (ACOFP).
Told extolled the value and
place of family practice in medicine. His “model,” Told said,
was one given by A.T. Still, referring to the foundations of
osteopathic medicine: surgery, obstetrics and general medicine.
“Today, I still exemplify that,” he said, citing the varied
cases encountered by the family practitioner. Told
has a rural practice in Craig,
Colo.
“In 2006, we still want to
preserve family practice,” he said. ACOFP's advocacy of family
medicine, development of leadership and commitment to building
educational and training resources for physicians are key to
that effort, he said.
Told is a 1973 graduate of Kirksville College of Osteopathic
Medicine. In private family practice for 30 years, he received
his board certification in 1987 and became an ACOFP Fellow in
1991. He is a recipient of the Distinguished Award for
Outstanding Service to his community and the 1997 ACOFP Family
Physician of the Year award. In 1993, he was named Colorado
General Practitioner of the Year.
He has served as ACOFP
president since March 2006.
His presentation pointed out
that family practice is equally important as a specialty, and
that the depth of knowledge required for family practice is as
great as it is for fields such as pediatrics, surgery or
obstetrics. In his experience, he said, family practice covers
the breadth of specialties.
“We may not know everything,
but we know a little about everything,” Told said. “The thing I
love about family practice is that I don’t know what kind of
specialist I’m going to be when I get up in the morning.”
Told explained how the needs of
a physician differed from the rural to the urban or hospital
setting, and demonstrated how family practice allowed physicians
to choose the setting in which they would practice. Family
practice physicians also could tailor their practices to their
needs and the needs of those they served, he said.
Told also told students they
should learn a variety of medical procedures because, he said,
“Procedures help pay the bills.” He has challenged members of
ACOFP to learn a new procedure every year.
“If there’s a scope made to
look into a hole of somebody’s body, man, I’ve got to have it,”
Told exclaimed, making the humorous inference to illustrate the
importance of learning how to use new technology. By learning
new techniques, the family practice doctor can, in some
instances, perform a procedure rather than sending the patient
to a specialist.
A slideshow detailed several of
the cases from Told’s practice, including a plastic surgery
procedure performed on a patient whose lower lip had been bitten
off by the family dog, as well as skin grafts and fixing
fractures.
Students had an opportunity to
ask questions, and Told answered questions ranging from how to
tailor practices to different communities to dealing with the
burden of malpractice.
“We really enjoyed his speech
because it showed us that the field of family medicine is an
important one that provides interesting practice opportunities,”
says Abby Lader, a second-year student and president of
the Family Practice Club. “I think that’s helpful in promoting
the field.”
- 30 -
News for
the week of
Sept 11 – Sept 16
