{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://centerforthehistoryoffamilymedicine.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/3j3902153q/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Dr. Elizabeth Garrett"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/246/original/CenterForHistoryFamilyMedicine_2c_RGB.png?1773344256","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e Dr Garrett spent nearly all her career as a family physician in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Her primary focus was medical student education and she felt strongly driven to help medical students develop their skills and aptitudes to practice medicine in a patient-centered manner. She believed it was important to get involved with medical education organizations, and she began that effort through committee work with the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) , where her work over time led to service on the STFM Board of Directors and to ultimately serving as president of both STFM and the STFM Foundation. Other leadership roles followed, including president of the Missouri Academy of Family Physicians and chair of the American Board of Family Medicine.  Throughout her career she has been strongly interested in social issues, including the future of health care and the environment. In her emeritus professor role, she continues to teach medical students part time at Missouri. \u003cbr\u003e Location: Missouri \u003c/p\u003e (summary)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eThis item is protected by U.S. copyright and related rights. It is being made available by the Center for the History of Family Medicine as its rights-holder for noncommercial use, including sharing and adapting the work. No permission is required for noncommercial use so long as attribution is provided. All other uses require permission from the Center for the History of Family Medicine.  Disclaimer:  The views presented in this broadcast are the speaker’s own and do not represent those of CHFM or the AAFP Foundation. The information presented is for general, educational, or entertainment purposes and should not be considered legal, health, financial, or other advice. \u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2018-11-16 (created)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Type"]},"value":{"en":["Oral History"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Dr. Nancy Baker (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Format"]},"value":{"en":["audio file"]}},{"label":{"en":["Keyword"]},"value":{"en":["family medicine","family physician","American Academy of Family Physicians"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English (primary)"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;Dr Garrett spent nearly all her career as a family physician in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Her primary focus was medical student education and she felt strongly driven to help medical students develop their skills and aptitudes to practice medicine in a patient-centered manner. She believed it was important to get involved with medical education organizations, and she began that effort through committee work with the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) , where her work over time led to service on the STFM Board of Directors and to ultimately serving as president of both STFM and the STFM Foundation. Other leadership roles followed, including president of the Missouri Academy of Family Physicians and chair of the American Board of Family Medicine. \u0026nbsp;Throughout her career she has been strongly interested in social issues, including the future of health care and the environment. In her emeritus professor role, she continues to teach medical students part time at Missouri.\u0026nbsp;\u003cbr /\u003e\u0026nbsp;Location: Missouri\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eThis item is protected by U.S. copyright and related rights. It is being made available by the Center for the History of Family Medicine as its rights-holder for noncommercial use, including sharing and adapting the work. No permission is required for noncommercial use so long as attribution is provided. All other uses require permission from the Center for the History of Family Medicine. \u0026nbsp;Disclaimer: \u0026nbsp;The views presented in this broadcast are the speaker\u0026rsquo;s own and do not represent those of CHFM or the AAFP Foundation. The information presented is for general, educational, or entertainment purposes and should not be considered legal, health, financial, or other advice.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://centerforthehistoryoffamilymedicine.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Center for the History of Family Medicine"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://centerforthehistoryoffamilymedicine.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Center for the History of Family Medicine"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/246/original/CenterForHistoryFamilyMedicine_2c_RGB.png?1773344256","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/public/images/audio-default.png","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://centerforthehistoryoffamilymedicine.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2195/collection_resources/152995/file/281590","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - Garrett_Elizabeth_18_a.wav"]},"duration":1879.05143,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/public/images/audio-default.png","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://centerforthehistoryoffamilymedicine.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2195/collection_resources/152995/file/281590/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://centerforthehistoryoffamilymedicine.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2195/collection_resources/152995/file/281590/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-centerforthehistoryoffamilymedicine.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/281/590/original/Garrett_Elizabeth_18_a.wav?1752071518","type":"Audio","format":"audio/wav","duration":1879.05143,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://centerforthehistoryoffamilymedicine.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2195/collection_resources/152995/file/281590","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://centerforthehistoryoffamilymedicine.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2195/collection_resources/152995/file/281590/transcript/81600","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Dr. Elizabeth Garrett interview transcript [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://centerforthehistoryoffamilymedicine.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2195/collection_resources/152995/file/281590/transcript/81600/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tape 1, side 1\n\nDr. Baker: Good afternoon Dr. Garrett. I’m Nancy Baker and a member of the Center for the History of Family Medicine Board of Curators and I have the pleasure today of interviewing you regarding your experience as a family physician. I thought to begin, can you just explain a little bit about your current professional activities?\n\nDr. Garrett: Sure, happy to. Currently I’m technically an America Professor but I still am working part time. I still teach in the undergraduate curriculum at the University of Missouri School of Medicine primarily in the Family Medicine Clerkship, also in the Introduction to Patient Care interviewing course. And then I’m a guide for COMPASS, which is a longitudinal curriculum that we have. And then I guess the other thing that I’m involved with professionally is I direct the Legacy Teachers Program which is a program that we created at Missouri and are working hard to spread around the country. \n\nDr. Baker: Betsy, I will, just for a moment, ask you to describe a little bit about the Legacy Teacher Program because that’s something I know is near and dear to your heart. When did it start and what is the program like today?\n\nDr. Garrett: This is our fourteen year. It came out of a sense of several of us had gone to a relationship-centered conference at Indiana University and when we came back a group of us got together to brainstorm about how we could make even more obvious our commitment as a school of medicine training physicians to be patient-centered. And I think it just arose from the clinicians in the group, that we could all remember patients who had tremendous impact on us, had taught us a great deal, but we really had no easy way to say thank you. So what was born was a Legacy Teachers Program where third year medical students at our medical school are invited. It’s totally voluntary to submit prose, artwork or poetry about a patient that they recognize taught them things that will make them be a better physician and in a lot of cases a better person. We then have a celebratory luncheon where those Legacy teachers are invited. They are the VIPs and they are often really shocked, the impact they could have had on a young physician. Now the videos that we develop from these interviews that we do afterwards are shown to our first year medical students their first day that they come. Second year students all go to this event as they are so distracted by step 1 of the boards. But we hope it reminds them why they are there. So believe that part of being patient-centered is also have a certain amount of humility and gratitude and this really allows our students to express that. It sounds like an amazing program. \n\nDr. Baker: Let’s start a little bit with sort of your childhood and upbringing and sort of the kernels of your future as a family physician. Tell me a bit about where you grew up and about your family.\n\nDr. Garrett: I grew up in Monet, Missouri which was at the time a town of about 4500 in southwest Missouri, straddling the counties of Barry and Lawrence. I have four older brothers and my mother was the most amazing person that I ever knew. My dad died when I was five months old, so she raised the five of us and really shaped me in every way possible, I think. Because our family didn’t have a lot of money, I was contacted by the local Catholic hospital to see if I wanted a job. So at the age of twelve I started working at St. Vincent’s Hospital and on weekends I was the admitting clerk. I posted the bills and I was the switchboard operator as a twelve year old, so it was an exciting ride for everybody. And later my main role was transcribing dictations. So I thought it was always a bit ironic that I started that way and at the time of my retirement I was also typing many of my own patient notes. But that was part of it. It was interesting, the Catholic sisters were encouraging. My mother was the secretary/receptionist, insurance clerk for our family doctor, Dr. F. L. Edwards, who was not what I would call particularly encouraging. But those perhaps where the kernels were sown.\n\nDr. Baker: So after you graduated from high school you went to the University of Missouri-Columbia. What was your undergraduate major?\n\nDr. Garrett: I was pretty sure that if I pursued the idea of medicine I didn’t want to be a typical premed. I didn’t really want to major in biology or certainly not chemistry or physics for sure. And they have had started a new program called The College of General Studies. So I actually made up my own degree and I graduated with a BGS, a bachelor of general studies and what I called social biologies. So it was premed pre-requisites, it was a lot of humanities and p.e. courses and Marching Mizzou and all those different things.\n\nDr. Baker: And was the kernel for medicine beginning to crystallize at that point? Or how did you think about that and then decide to apply to medical school?\n\nDr. Garrett: When I sat on admissions committees I was always really impressed with the students who said, oh, yeah, if I don’t get in this year I’m going to apply again and I’ll apply again. For me, it was more, well, I’m going to give it a shot. But if I don’t get in, that probably means it wasn’t what I was supposed to do. Maybe that’s my Presbyterian background of predestination. I thought I would give it a go and see if it worked out. I applied early decision to the University of Missouri. And I think I only had one other interview slated. So when I was accepted early decision, it was like, okay, that’s what I’m supposed to do. It was meant to be. But it was always that I felt I had some purpose in life and that I just wanted to try to help others and that seemed a tangible way of doing it.\n\nDr. Baker: And are there significant experiences that happened at Mizzou, while you were in medical school, that led you to believe family medicine is what I want or did you consider other subspecialties at that time?\n\nDr. Garrett: I probably came in thinking family medicine because those were the doctors I had grown up with, although the physicians of the area of our family doc were also doing surgery and anesthesia. But it was partly that. Partly in the mid-70's there was some counterculture things going on. Family medicine was sort of seen as a counterculture and clearly the specialty most in need by the country. And I couldn’t imagine saying no to different parts of the human population. I knew I wanted to do women’s health but I didn’t want to exclude men. I knew I wanted to take care of children but not all the time. And there was something that I sensed, that taking care of various members of families or of social units would be particularly rewarding – and it was.\n\nDr. Baker: Were there any particular mentors during medical school or once you decided to go into family medicine and do residency that influenced that or reinforced that belief?\n\nDr. Garrett: Well, I was fortunate to have some pretty amazing classmates who also went into family medicine. And I stayed there at the University of Missouri for residency and I was surrounded by really terrific role models – people who were compassionate and people who were engaged on the national stage too. So it was a wonderful crucible in which to train. We also had, beginning my intern year, the Robert Wood Johnson Family Medicine fellowships, so those people also enriched the environment. So I never questioned it. It was what I was supposed to do.\n\nDr. Baker: So you finished residency. What came next?\n\nDr. Garrett: Some indecision came next. I actually thought I was going to practice with some of the people in my class but first one and then the other peeled off to stay and do the fellowship, so apparently I was a good recruiter for the fellowship. But I ended up sort of marking time by working a year fulltime as an emergency room physician in Jefferson City, but I knew that that was not going to be satisfying for me. There weren’t the joys to balance the tragedies. There wasn’t the knowledge of people. I didn’t find it rewarding taking care of strangers. And I never knew where an intervention that I had made, whether it was a good thing or not. So, yes, I ran some successful codes but I didn’t have the follow-up to know if people walked out of the hospital intact. It was during that year that I was contacted by Allen Dietrich who was out at Dartmouth and they were looking to build the clinical practice to hopefully start a residency program there in Hanover. And through a connection with one of my classmates, he called. And I went out and interviewed and thought maybe I need to see if I can be successful outside of Missouri, so I took a deep breath and went out to New Hampshire.\n\nDr. Baker: So you were one of the early faculty in that program working with medical students as well?\n\nDr. Garrett: Yes. And we weren’t successful in developing a residency the three years I was there. But I was on the adjunct faculty of Dartmouth Medical School. I joined some pretty amazing family docs and a general internist who had been the dean of the medical school and we had a wonderful practice down the hill from a small community hospital. So it was a fabulous first real job in family medicine.\n\nDr. Baker: Any experiences that stand out in your memory as to memorable moments in that practice or working with those learners?\n\nDr. Garrett: Oh, many. I had some students with me in my clinic that would shadow and I remember having some discussions with them as they were grappling with was medical school right for them or not. And I was able to get involved in actually teaching in some of the courses and found that I enjoyed those things. But I think my biggest memory was that it was a steep learning curve, one’s first couple of years out of practice. That you do all the right things and people don’t get that. Or that there’s a limit to our knowledge - and again, how much we’re taught by our patients. \n\nDr. Baker: But you made a shift after three years to New Hampshire. Tell us a little bit about that.\n\nDr. Garrett: For a variety of reasons I decided to come back to Columbia. One was to be near my family still in southwest Missouri. Another was that they were going to be entering the last class for the Robert Wood Johnson Fellows and I had watched my classmates go through that. I had realized out in practice that I knew very little about epidemiology and how to be critical readers of research because, of course, we didn’t have those courses at the time that I was in medical school. And I had this sense that maybe being in academics wouldn’t be so bad in that I think that I had a passion for medical student education. And part of it was that there were some parts of medical school that weren’t so pleasant for me. And I felt a real sense of loyalty to the school and if I could do anything to help make it better for the students that came after, that seemed a noble calling.\n\nDr. Baker: So you mentioned earlier when you were talking about the students that you worked with in New Hampshire, sensing and hearing from some of them that they weren’t sure medical school was for them. And you just referenced once again wanting to go back and change things. Can you tell me more about that? What sort of things did you want to leave your imprint and change in a positive way?\n\nDr. Garrett: Well, I knew I wanted to work with students and I hoped that I would be seen as someone they could come talk to as someone who would be an advocate for them and their interests in terms of the curriculum and the programs that were offered. So I was so fortunate that even as a fellow, it was a two year fellowship program, I took over running a required fourth year. Actually, I guess I was the first director of it, of a fourth year required primary care four week clerkship that was a collaborative between child health, internal medicine and family medicine. So I was able to sort of hit the ground running and then got to be involved, again very fortunate, at the curriculum redesign that happened for us in 1992 or so where we really blew up our first two year curriculum and also made some changes in the third and fourth year curriculum. So we went to then what we called problem-based learning and now we call it patient-based learning. So that was just really exciting. I became clerkship director and really had a great working relationship with the other clerkship directors. We did a lot of innovations collaboratively. So it felt really good. Helped start an opportunity to do Indian health service electives in the fourth year that I would have loved to have done. So there were some things like that. \n\nDr. Baker: And Betsy, I know this about that you, not only did you love working with the students but the feedback that I heard from other students and residents with whom you worked, your enthusiasm for teaching and your sensitivity to their individual needs. You started to connect with some of the national activities that were happening shortly then after finishing fellowship. Am I correct?\n\nDr. Garrett: Yes. At the time that I was going back and I think even when I was at Darmouth, Allen Dietrich suggested that I go to the STFM Pre-Doctoral Education Conference, it was called then. And I think it was maybe even held in Kansas City. And I just had a sense that these kind of feel like my people. And so when I negotiated a contract there at the University of Missouri I said that one of the stipulations was that I wanted to go to that conference every year because I thought that it was going to be really important for my professional development. At that time typically if you did medical school education it was, at least in my perspective, you just did that until you could get on to the really fun stuff, residency education or being a department chair. But there was just a group of us that started about that time where it was like, no, this is our destination, this is what we want to do. So that was huge. And it was my involvement there and the people I met that led the way for everything else.\n\nDr. Baker: So would you be kind enough to tell us a little bit, who were some of those people? Are those people that are still people you’ve kept in contact with for the duration of your professional career?\n\nDr. Garrett: Probably the two most important people – one was Donna Harris. Donna was, as some of my friends in STFM would say, a real doc, a PhD and I was a vocational doc as an MD. But Donna just had this gift. She was a connector. She was someone who would walk across the room and introduce herself to people. She always wanted to make people feel at home. And she could span disciplines and specialties. And we had the good fortune to room together in several of the meetings that we would go to. So I learned so much from her and she was a mentor. And, sadly, she died quite a few years ago, right before she was supposed to come out to Missouri to do a visiting professorship with her. And Donna was affiliated with which medical institution? Mercer, I think, was the most recent one that she had been affiliated with. But she was a remarkable person. And then Kent Sheets (?) was someone that I also met early on and we just found ourselves working on a variety of projects together and I have definitely kept in touch with Kent over the years. \n\nDr. Baker: And Betsy, I know that you were very involved with the Preceptor Education Project that came out of STFM. Can you say a bit more about that particular experience?\n\nDr. Garrett: Right. It was really an attempt to create a portable faculty development program particularly geared towards practicing physicians, busy community physicians who work with third year medical students in their office. I can’t even remember who it was funded by initially. They initially went to the Academy and the Academy went to STFM. Kent Sheets was picked to chair that and I was one of the contributors on it. It was a really all-star group of people. And we met and developed this program and then later we did a second edition and kept my co-chair, that endeavor. But I think it still stands the test of time as sort of clinical teaching 101. And we found that it works for academic folks. It works for folks who are teaching residents, not just students. And I’ve it and I’ve led pep sessions with people who were from all different specialties from dentists, from nurse practitioners. So, yeah, it was great – and hopefully that was a small contribution.\n\nDr. Baker: And I’m remembering historically how you were then, as you just said, being called to travel all over the country to do these trainings for a variety of groups, not just in family medicine, although it was birthed in family medicine and had a family medicine perspective. So clearly something that left quite an impact. And as we know in teaching, sometimes the teacher learns more and then passes it on. So a great opportunity for them. \n\nDuring this time you also assumed leadership in a variety of capacities. Can you tell me a little bit about your leadership journey in professional medical organizations?\n\nDr. Garrett: I think it was largely good fortune. It was also speaking up, showing up. But I think really importantly delivering on expectations and contributions. I also think whatever there is about my genes is that I enjoy committee work. And I also feel like I’m able to often bring a sense of humor to some of those settings. By I’ve just been so fortunate that in STFM I was co-chair of the medical student group. Then I became a member-at-large on the board. Then I was the CAS rep, the Council of Academic Society rep – that name has changed. And then I was extremely fortunate to be elected as president, so served as president-elect, president and past president of STFM. And then later on became a member of the STFM Foundation and ended up chairing that for two years. Serving as president? Right. And then I was on the Missouri Academy of Family Physicians board for many, many years. And finally, I think to make space for new people, they asked me to be president. So I was president of the Missouri Academy and in some bizarre twist of fate that same year I was chair of the American Board of Family Medicine. And president again. Chair and then followed by president? Well, no, I think Dr. Puffer would be considered as president and CEO. I was chair of the board. So talk about privilege and opportunities, I can’t imagine how it was that I had all that good fortune.\n\nDr. Baker: Since I’ve had a chance to witness you a little bit in a few of those roles, as it relates to STFM there were key people with whom you worked, I think you have said previously, who influenced you. Do you want to tell us a little bit about some of those people you worked with and what sort of an impact they had on your personal and professional development?\n\nDr. Garrett: Serving on any sort of board at that level, you develop great bonds of friendship and really feel like you’re working towards a common goal. So you could probably look at the pictures of each of the boards over the years. I remember Joel Marinstein (?) as being just this wonderful source of wisdom and common sense. Roger Sherwood, of course, was very instrumental as the Executive Director of STFM during many of those years. Denise Rogers. Denise helped shape me in ways that I am very grateful for. Lucy Candib stimulated my thinking. John Frey. Stacy Brungardt – I’m a true admirer of her and how she really works with strategic plan and making decisions that align with that. So, yeah, there’s just a host of people.\n\nDr. Baker: What, as you remember, were some of the issues that you as a board or as the leader in charge wrestled with? And in a similar fashion, what activities are you most proud that we took this on and accomplished or at least took a step forward in that direction?\n\nDr. Garrett: I remember the year I was president of STFM we had done something as a board development with Rachel Remen up at her facility north of San Francisco and I became aware of a group called the Collaborative for Health In the Environment. And I had an interest in the environment and that as family physicians we needed to be aware of that almost like canaries in the cage because we were seeing firsthand how our farmers, how our workers were being exposed to things in the environment that might be detrimental to their health. So I remember wanting us to join this collaborative for health and having quite a healthy discussion about whether it was appropriate to sign onto a group that sort of took the precautionary approach. In other words, if something might be true then we should work as if it were true rather than wait to see if it was really true or not. I think that still has relevance today. So that was an interesting discussion. And the board voted not to do it. But I was able to – and again, it took some negotiation to bring a plenary speaker to my meeting that spoke about the environment, Sandra Steingraber (?) – and I thought that was important. Probably one of the proud moments was how we handled the SARS epidemic that was having Toronto as an epicenter and Toronto was where our meeting was to be held. And for folks who didn’t live through that, more and more universities were saying people can’t leave the country. If they can, they can’t come back for several weeks. Meetings happening in Toronto, people were being asked to have their temperature taken every day. Members started saying we can’t go to the meeting. But we held off on cancelling it partly because we didn’t have meeting cancellation insurance and it would have been a huge financial hit for the organization. But we waited just long enough that Toronto was declared a travel advisory site, so then we were no longer responsible for not showing up. But I think the way we handled it and the communications that we did both to our members and our plenary speakers and all that, I think we did a good job with that.\n\nDr. Baker: And Betsy, this is notable because you’re doing this leadership and directing and facilitating work with colleagues at the same time you’re doing your undergraduate medical education, clinical courtship activities in family medicine and maintaining a patient panel which in many situations is our top priority.\n\nDr. Garrett: And to speak to that, I don’t think anybody can take on these leadership roles without tremendous support back at their own institution, whether it’s a residency program or a department. So I clearly was, again, blessed with – I had the same staff person for twenty-seven years who could run the clerkship without me. And this was at the University of Missouri in Columbia? Right, in Columbia. And just colleagues and department chairs over time who valued this contribution to a national level. It was part of our mission as a department to help be leaders on a national level. So, again, couldn’t have done it without all those people willing to be supportive of that. And I think that’s an important message to the discipline, that we need to support people and help them do these things.\n\nDr. Baker: So a more recent chapter was your tenure as chair of the American Board of Family Medicine. Can you tell us a little bit about what you did in that capacity and if there are any particular accomplishments you felt that group was able to succeed with during your tenure? \n\nDr. Garrett: I was on the board for five years and one year as immediate past chair. I think the board grappled with really important decisions. We had input from a lot of the diplomats about things they supported and things that they didn’t support.  I chaired the communications part and worked hard on trying to have communications that went out that really inform diplomats. I became increasingly proud of the ABFM and the leadership role it held in the ABMS, the American Board of Medical Specialties with family medicine often leading the way in some of the innovations that were done. I learned a lot because it was just a different board and extremely professional.\n\nDr. Baker: And who were some of the folks you worked with when you were serving on the board?\n\nDr. Garrett: Well, certainly Jim Puffer was a very important figure and we developed a good relationship over time. I think we both weren’t totally sure about each other the first couple of meetings. I figured they selected me, so they should have known what they were getting. He may have thought he wasn’t truly informed about that, but we grew to have a great working relationship. Larry Green – very, very articulate. David Price, Karen Mitchell. Again, just a great group of folks within family medicine. And again, I learned a lot from the members of some of the other specialties that also sit around that table.\n\nDr. Baker: So if you step back for a moment, I suspect some folks say, gosh, the amount of time, energy and effort that requires to be away from your practice and your day job is so significant, why would anyone want to do this? Can you kind of give a big picture as to what you got from those leadership positions and participation in those national organizations?\n\nDr. Garrett: I think part of it was, again, just trying to live that vision of we’re supposed to be good people, we’re supposed to contribute, we’re supposed to make a difference where we can. I’d like to feel like maybe I had a small impact on those different organizations that were positive. So I guess it was that. It was the satisfaction that maybe I was … You know, as family docs we like to think about breadth and we like to think about continuity. So what a privilege it’s been to have students that became residents, that became colleagues, that became my bosses. Or to see people succeeding that you had a hand in throughout the country or the world. And so I think in a similar way, just feeling like can I give back to these organizations that I have benefitted so much from -    \n\nAgain, the Missouri Academy, STFM and the American Board. Just all things and groups that I feel like I benefitted from, and so it was just giving back. \n\nDr. Baker: I also know that you have, throughout all of this experience, some other interests outside of medicine that you --. Can you tell us a little bit about some of your other hobbies and interests, if you have time or when you have time for them?\n\nDr. Garrett: They probably evolve some, but … \n\nTape 1, side 2\n\nDr. Garrett: … Six early women graduates of the University of Missouri 1900 through 1908. I used to be much more active in sports, not so much now. Golf a little bit, pickle ball a little bit, but not nearly as much as I should. I’ve taken up bird watching on a more serious way in the last few years. And I’ve even taken up -- cooking a little bit, but that’s very bad. I’m not very good at that at all. \n\nAnd then spending time with family and friends. My retirement has allowed me to really spend more time doing that.\n\nDr. Baker: And when is it that you decided to retire?\n\nDr. Garrett: As of this speaking, it’s been just a little over two years ago, September of 2016. At the end of September was my last day of seeing patients. As we said, I’m still involved in teaching some. But, yeah, time flies. \n\nDr. Baker: I also know that you’re interested in creative writing and poetry. Can you say a little bit about where that interest came from and how that has related to your professional life?\n\nDr. Garrett: I have a little interest in it. The power of the word – sometimes I think poetry and prose can really help us understand more our own feelings and help us process through different experiences. I think the time that I wrote the most was as I was taking care of my mom in the last few months of her life and that really helped me process. It also really, looking back, helps me remember things I was feeling at the time. I wish I would have done more of that through the years. And when I’ve had the good fortune to give talks from time to time, I think that, for me, is a creative process too that has helped me sort of see what I think and help me process things a little bit more that way too.                    \n\nDr. Baker: How do you think that relates back to that undergraduate general studies major that you had?\n\nDr. Garrett: Maybe a little bit. Maybe just the sense that we are enriched by the humanities and it helps us think more broadly, perhaps more creative and lets us connect with our patients in a variety of different ways than just the pure biologic. \n\nDr. Baker: So if we circle back to being a family physician, when you think about your own experiences and the family physicians with whom you’ve worked over the years, what are some of the just absolutely key ingredients of being a family physician that we have to hold onto and give to those that are going to succeed us?\n\nDr. Garrett: I think compassion has to be up there in the top. Humility, gratitude for what we’ve been given, the skills that we have. I also think there has to be a bit of a fierceness to advocate for our patients, to point out injustice when we see it. Courage. Sometimes I need to stand up to our colleagues in other fields and say thank you for your opinion but I think this is going to work best for this patient at this time. And courage I think to see when we’ve made mistakes, when we could have done better, when we were insensitive, when we were rushed. And I think just knowing … It was a lesson I learned when I was in practice in Lebanon, New Hampshire. The person I was taking care of in the morning was going to be working on my car in the afternoon and I felt we had equal currency, that we had equal value in the scheme of things. So what we do as family physicians are very important but so is what every other person does in the fabric of our society. So I think that’s part of what family physicians keep in mind too. I think often we live more closely to our patient’s experience. Never in the same experience but we are humbled by their courage, by their strength of character. I had many patients that I’m not sure I could have managed nearly as well. So when they showed up a half hour late, I doubted if, given what they had to do, I could have gotten there at all for the appointment. So those would be some of the things that come to mind.\n\nDr. Baker: So as we look to the future of family medicine, what’s on the horizon, in your opinion? What are the things that we need to have the courage and the compassion and the humility to hold forth and press on to do? What do you see as where we’re going?\n\nDr. Garrett: These are obviously very troubled times in November 2018 where our country is so divisive and there is so much vitriolic speech that it’s really hard to turn on the news and see the reports. We’re also dealing with conflagrations of fire and of hate. And so I’m reminded of the Folsom Report which was one of the early reports around the founding of family medicine. And in it they talk about communities of solution where to really tackle the problems you don’t just draw a line around a county or a city but you look at who’s involved, who are the communities and you work together to try and find a solution. So an example might be if one town has a problem with clean drinking water, they can only solve by looking who’s upstream, who’s downstream, what’s contributing to that – and that’s your community of solution. And it seems to me that as family physicians we tend to think of community. We’re very community-oriented. We think not just of the person in front of us but every person and piece that’s connected to them. So I think it’s natural for us to think about community. So I’d like to think that if we just keep hanging in there both in the house of medicine but more broadly, we might be able to help us think as a country, as a society, as a world about these communities of solution. Because the problems are huge and I think it’s this kind of broader thinking outside traditional boundaries that maybe we’re especially good at, that I think we have a role in.\n\nDr. Baker: Thank you. As we wind up, any last comments that we haven’t addressed or issues that you’d like to point out?\n\nDr. Garrett: No, except to say that I couldn’t be prouder than to have been a family physician and some much gratitude to students, colleagues, residents – and especially patients who trusted me with their care. There’s no, I think, greater honor than that. \n\nDr. Baker: Thank you for your leadership. Thank you for your wisdom. And especially thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to be interviewed today for the Center for the History of Family Medicine.\n\nDr. Garrett: Thank you, Dr. Baker.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://centerforthehistoryoffamilymedicine.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2195/collection_resources/152995/file/281590#t=0.0,1879.05143"}]}]}]}