Nov-Dec 2004 Table of Contents

LETTERS

Fam Pract Manag. 2004 Nov-Dec;11(10):22.

Creating the lifestyle you want

To the Editor:

Dr. Eugene Guazzo truly lives his life by his principles and values [“Making a Living and a Life,” September 2004, page 70]. In 1977, while I was a resident at the University of Maryland, I was lucky to work in his office, the Chaptico Infirmary, and our family lived with his family on his farm. The experience was the highlight of my training. Dr. Guazzo’s lifestyle – moving from overalls in the tobacco barn in the morning to tails at a function in Washington, D.C., in the evening – is the envy of anyone whose life is not exactly as he had planned.

Dr. Guazzo’s passion for the people, land and water of tidewater Maryland, was inspiring. I recall meeting him at the office in the morning as he arrived in full riding habit, having galloped his horse over the miles of fields between his farm and office.

None of this was an accident. I had never seen anyone else speak so openly and frankly with his colleagues and have them love him for it. Patients, too, received the same honesty and were grateful. For me, hours spent away from the office, in the kitchen talking about life, were as valuable as the lessons with patients.

Copyright © 2004 by the American Academy of Family Physicians.
This content is owned by the AAFP. A person viewing it online may make one printout of the material and may use that printout only for his or her personal, non-commercial reference. This material may not otherwise be downloaded, copied, printed, stored, transmitted or reproduced in any medium, whether now known or later invented, except as authorized in writing by the AAFP. Contact fpmserv@aafp.org for copyright questions and/or permission requests.