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Web extra:
Continuity of care
Christina González, D.O. (’09)
By Colleen Kiphart
Photo by John Sattler
Former
Family Practice Fellow, Christina González, D.O. (’09),
originally planned to specialize in pediatrics, but at
OU-COM she discovered her passion for family care.
She
attributes the shift, in part, to the college’s social
conscience and emphasis on family practice as “the basis of
good health care,” and, in part, to her early clinical
experiences.
“I was
always curious what happened to the patient after I saw
them. I’m very interested in preventive medicine and
continuing care,” González says. “It is so important to
emphasize what patients can do to improve their health. Then
you can get see them implement it and their health improve
over time.”
González
sees her specialty as anything but boring. “One of the
newest ideas in the field is the patient-centered home,” she
says. “It aims to give a patient access to their own files
and to care that is more interdisciplinary. In one location
they might be able to see a primary care doctor, a
nutritionist, a pharmacist and a physical therapist.”
She adds
that the diversity of this approach particularly benefits
patients managing chronic diseases such as diabetes. “You
get to integrate those professions and give patients access
to build a solid foundation for the ongoing care they need.”
González
is not sure why, on the national scale, so few of her peers
pursue family practice. “It’s an honor to take part in the
life of a patient,” she says. “You learn the value of
patient care.”
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