For the last few weeks of my internal medicine rotation, I traveled more than an hour away from Peoria to work with Dr. Mark Fernandez in his outpatient office. As I prepared to see my first few patients, I pored over their medical records, gathering every detail, lab result, diagnosis, and other relevant historical information. After interviewing the patient and gathering my thoughts, I would locate my preceptor to present my findings. Before each of my presentations, without fail, rather than delving into the intricacies of their illnesses, Dr. Fernandez preferred to tell me about his patients - not in reference to their medical conditions, but rather with respect to their lives. He would say something like, "Oh, Don is here today? He's been my patient for a long time. He's a really great guy! I see him at the gym and our kids are in scouts together." Time and again, it impressed me how well Dr. Fernandez knew his patients. No matter how many appointments he had scheduled on any given day, he would always take some time to update me on how amazing his patients were as indviduals, then would turn the ensuing clinical interview into a conversation between friends.
The most remarkable enounter I witnessed was with an elderly patient with multiple problems. The patient's son was a fairly close acquaintance of Dr. Fernandez. It quickly became apparent to me that the patient's health was deteriorating rapidly. The gentleness, care, respect, and compassion that Dr. Fernandez showed this patient was more than a doctor-patient relationship; it was something akin to how a son would treat his ailing parent. Through it all, I could see in the patient's eyes that Dr. Fernandez was more than a doctor; he was part of the family.
As my time in the office came to a close, Dr. Fernandez left me with this final thought: "My patients don't come to this office to see the doctor. They come to see me." the most brilliant and intuitve doctors can effectively treat diseases, but true success and satisfaction come from treating patients. In the end, that's what it's all about.
Christian Nunez
Class of 2013
(some details in this story have been altered to protect privacy)
