Locum Tenens
Gretchen Neumann Stone, MD
Board Certified Family Medicine Physician
Gretchen Neumann Stone, M.D., has dedicated more than 21 years to the field of family medicine, which she chose because she likes to "do a little bit of everything." However, Dr. Stone is not your typical family doctor. Throughout her career, her desire to provide a better quality of medicine has taken her to the far reaches of the earth; sometimes to areas so isolated they don’t appear on most maps.
Recently, Dr. Stone journeyed to another remote part of the world when she accepted one of VISTA Staffing Solutions’ first locum tenens placements in Tasmania, Australia. And this time, her husband and three children went along!
Not your typical locum tenens physician, Dr. Stone is taking a sabbatical from her group practice in Ohio, and from her clinical faculty position at the University of Cincinnati. She has been in practice since 1984, when she completed a three–year residency at the Natividad Medical Center in Salinas.
As noted, Dr. Stone’s career path has been anything but typical. In February 2004, she took time away from her practice to go to Keew, an isolated area of Sudan, Africa. There, she helped the International Medical Relief Fund in its effort to treat patients from the Nuer and Dinka tribes who suffer from tuberculosis, leprosy and a parasitic disease called kala azar. Since 1982, she has served the organization in a variety of capacities, including founding trustee, interim director, organizer/fundraiser and volunteer for medical missions to El Salvador and Africa. She began her service in 1984 by conducting research into, and educating Nicaraguans about, pesticide toxicity in their country.
Gratifying experiences during her medical relief trips to Central America and Sudan came to mind when Dr. Stone received a postcard from VISTA that described locum tenens opportunities in other countries. She and her husband, Phil, have three children. As parents, they want their kids to experience the diversity and richness of other cultures and decided that a locum tenens assignment provided a perfect opportunity for an overseas adventure.
Dr. Stone contacted VISTA and asked about placements. The discussion quickly turned to the wonders of Australia. After consulting with her family, Dr. Stone accepted a one–year placement at the Scottsdale Doctors’ Surgery, a rural family clinic serving the town’s population of about 2,000. Scottsdale is located in Tasmania, or Tassie as the Aussies affectionately call it. Tassie is an island across the Bass Strait just south of Australia’s mainland. Fertile farming land and tourism define the culture and economy of the approximately 470,000 people who call the island home.
Dr. Stone reports that the whole process of getting to Tasmania went amazingly well. VISTA took care of most of the logistical details, including coordinating arrangements for a temporary work visa and Dr. Stone’s medical registration. She was particularly impressed by the fact that VISTA "understands what physicians want in a practice" and appreciates the company’s efforts to make "a good match" for her and her family.
Dr. Stone joined four family practitioners, a practice manager, two part–time nurses, two full–time and four part–time staff at the Scottsdale Doctors’ Surgery. This medical team also staffs the North–Eastern Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital (NESMH), a public hospital with 23 beds. Just as in the United States, rural areas in Australia often have trouble recruiting and retaining doctors. However, scenic spots such as Tasmania are attractive to locum tenens physicians who are more than willing to fill the gap and view their temporary assignment as a "working holiday."
Every weekday morning, Dr. Stone enjoys a 15–minute stroll to the NESMH, where she joins the other doctors to do patient rounds. Her first locum tenens assignment is providing an opportunity to do what she loves best: utilize a wide–range of medical skills. She has seen patients with everything from brain tumors to broken noses and legs, which are inexplicably referred to as "ham and eggs" in Australia. Patients experience problems similar to those in the United States, including diabetes and high blood pressure.
Dr. Stone enjoys making house calls to patients, which is still considered the norm in Australia. During her first Saturday on call, she was asked to visit a patient living in a retirement community, who was too short of breath to come to the doctor’s office. Dr. Stone decided that he needed to be admitted to the hospital. A neighbor helped him pack his bag and then the patient climbed onto his electric scooter and "drove on down" to the hospital, with his neighbor and the suitcase trailing behind.
There are some notable differences to practicing medicine in Australia. A Medicare program covers permanent residents and the country does not have a litigious society, both of which contribute to an easier, less complicated medical system. Dr. Stone notes, "Patients are not shuttled in and out of the hospital because of insurance restrictions." In addition, there are fewer administrative duties and physicians at the NESMH are not required to bill for every procedure or process. As a result, Dr. Stone spends more time with her patients and is refreshed by the opportunity to practice high–quality medicine in what she calls a "straightforward system." She says, "Practicing here changes your perspective, professionally and personally."
Natalie Burch, M.D., a partner at the Scottsdale Doctors’ Surgery, reports that Dr. Stone’s contributions to the surgery and its patients are definitely high quality, invaluable and timely. "Dr. Stone is a godsend! She is competent and diligent, but above all, she is friendly, thoughtful and has a great sense of humor," says Dr. Birch. "Her presence has eased our staffing burden considerably."
The locum tenens assignment in Australia is also providing an exciting opportunity to lead the "good life" in another country for the Stone family, who arrived in mid–February 2005. Moving from a spacious farm in Ohio to a compact, three–bedroom house in the small town of Scottsdale required a bit of adjustment, but they can now walk to school and shopping. Their backyard, like those of their neighbors, boasts a clothesline that can dry several tubs of laundry at once, and a woodpile that will heat the house all winter.
During their leisure time, the Stone family plays a lot of board games, particularly Scrabble™. According to Dr. Stone, "Living in Scottsdale feels like we’ve gone back in time about 40 years." Her oldest son is quick to point out that although he agrees in general, there is one exception. He says, "Everyone has cell phones–except my family!"
Of course for Dr. Stone’s children, living in Australia also means attending different schools. They were able to join their new classmates two days after arriving in Scottsdale and now take a short, seven–minute walk to school every morning. She says that they are also acquiring valuable skills beyond academics. Required classes for seventh–graders include personal computing, design graphics, cooking, woodshop and gardening.
The oldest two children are on the high school debate team, which has become the center of the kids’ social life. Dr. Stone’s 10–year old son has been recruited as a timekeeper during the debate matches, and recently wound up being scheduled as a team captain. In order to attend debates and hang out with the kids after school and during holidays, her husband Phil is working part–time, manning a boat for a local abalone diver.
An island separated from the Australian mainland by the Bass Strait, Tasmania is quite similar to coastal California. The Stone family is enjoying easy access to white sand beaches, which are only 20 minutes away from home. The family plans to surf, beach camp and scuba dive together. Hills and mountains surround the area and the family plans to camp and backpack in several Australian national parks. "We thought we would try to go to the mainland during school holidays, but we are nowhere near finished experiencing all we want to do in Tasmania," comments Dr. Stone.
The Stone’s have discovered that Tassies love to play sports, everything from footie (Australian rules football) and hockey to basketball, netball and swimming. Dr. Stone and her daughter are one of three mother⁄daughter combos on the Frogs, a local hockey team, and her sons play on two footie teams. "Australians have a passion for footie that no American sport could begin to elicit," explains Dr. Stone. She tells of a patient who recently called her to report suicidal feelings, but he said that he couldn’t come into the hospital to see her because his coach wouldn’t let him play if he’d been to see the doctor!
For Dr. Stone, the locum tenens lifestyle is a "family adventure type of thing;" she eventually plans to return to her practice in Ohio. VISTA hopes that her experience as a temporary physician in Australia will convince her and her family to consider another of our international placements.
