Daughter, dad, doctors
|
|
Dr. Themarge Small practices medicine alongside her father, Dr. John McLellan, at Southwest Vermont Medical Center Obstetrics and Gynecology, in Bennington. Photo provided |
Toolbox
By PATRICK McARDLE Herald Staff - Published: January 5, 2009
BENNINGTON –- When Southwestern Vermont Medical Center's newest obstetrician, Dr. Themarge Small, needs advice, she can always call on her experienced colleague across the hall, Dr. John McLellan, or as she calls him, "Dad."
"I can say that since I've been (in the) medical (field), our relationship, which has always been very good, has certainly deepened and now I cannot tell you what a pleasure and a joy it is -– and an honor, frankly –- to work with him," Small said.
In the medical office building at Southwest Vermont Medical Center Obstetrics and Gynecology, Small has worked in Suite 302 since September. McLellan has his own practice in Suite 305.
"It's fabulous. We do surgeries together, we cover each other's patients, we discuss interesting cases. If we come up against where there's confusion or contradiction in the literature, then we can debate it," Small said.
McLellan, who has practiced locally for 35 years, said it had been a great experience.
"(Small) said one of the things she was looking forward to, being stuck at 3 in the morning and picking up the phone and calling me. And she does that and I love it. I love being able to call her. I think every place should have someone come from somewhere else about every five years so we could all learn. I'm sure I'm learning more from her than she's learning from me," he said.
For McLellan, being a doctor ran in the family.
"My father was a doctor, my uncle was a doctor, my mom and my aunts were nurses. Our family reunions were sort of like medical conventions. I really never thought of anything else," he said.
Despite her family history, Small came to the medical profession from a more indirect route. Originally from Bennington, she went to University of Vermont where she majored in political science.
Small moved to San Francisco, although she didn't even have a job there, and ended up working for a financial services company.
"It was so much fun and I loved living in San Francisco, but I also started volunteering at night doing doula work. Doula is a volunteer childbirth assistant who helps women through labor … and it finally occurred to me one day that I was spending my nights and weekends doing what I really loved. I was spending my work time just sort of paying for what I needed to do to do what I really loved. At some point, I felt, 'I just need to turn that on its head.' If we're going to be spending so much of our lives in work, we need to love our job. I'm pleased to say, I love my job," she said.
Small said her father never pressured her to become a doctor even though none of her other five siblings had become doctors either. McLellan said he was pleased Small had come to medicine on her own.
"I was honored that she valued what I did enough to at least take a look at it. The rest of it she did on her own. She originally wasn't going to pursue this path," he said.
According to McLellan, Small knew early on she wanted to return to Bennington to practice medicine.
But while Small said it was good for her, her husband, John, and her daughters, Isabelle, 7, and Violet, 2, to come back to the area where they're renovating a house in Shaftsbury, being with family wasn't the only draw.
After graduating from University of California–Los Angeles with her medical degree and performing her residency at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., Small said she was attracted to returning to Vermont.
"(My husband and I) came from San Francisco and Los Angeles, which are both two cities that we adore, which are great places to visit, but as we hit maturity, I guess, we got tired of parking for 25 minutes. We kind of like that it's peaceful and that it's quiet and there's no crime and the education is awesome. When you meet people here, you know who they are. Character matters here and that ended up mattering an awful lot to us as we defined who we are and who we wanted our children to be in the world," she said.
In a small town, medical professionals get to know their patients, something else Small said she liked.
"When we have that kind of connection, continuity is a little bit more firm and I think people are more likely to get the care they need. … Any of us would be ashamed to deliver less than superlative care to the people who we know, who are our buddies," she said.
Contact Patrick McArdle at patrick.mcardle@rutlandherald.com.
18