Imagine arriving at your office around 8:00 AM, reviewing your schedule of 20–22 patients for the day—a manageable volume that allows you to practice thorough, unhurried medicine. Your patient encounters will span the full spectrum of family medicine: you might see a diabetic patient for their quarterly HbA1c review in the morning, handle several acute sick visits mid-day, perform a joint injection for a farmer with osteoarthritis, review abnormal lab results with an elderly patient, and end your afternoon with annual wellness visits. Unlike the conveyor-belt feeling of many modern practices, you'll actually have time to listen to your patients' stories, understand their lives, and provide comprehensive care. The appointment slots for new patients and established visits are realistic when you have an organized team and well-documented electronic health records.
Your patient population will be predominantly Medicare and Medicaid (approximately 70–80% of the payer mix), with a smaller percentage of commercial insurance. This is a medically complex, underserved population that genuinely needs your expertise. The age distribution skews elderly, with perhaps only 10–15 pediatric patients in the practice—most of your days will involve caring for adults and seniors managing multiple chronic conditions. These are patients who have been seeing Dr. Ludwick for decades, who trust their family doctor implicitly, and who view their medical appointments as important social connections in addition to healthcare visits. Some are lonely seniors whose doctor’s visit might be their primary social interaction that week. They'll talk, they'll share stories about their grandchildren, and they'll bring you fresh eggs or lemons from their trees as tokens of appreciation. This is medicine as it used to be—personal, relationship-based, and deeply meaningful.
Here’s something increasingly rare in modern medicine: this position has no formal call coverage requirement. You won't be awakened at 2:00 AM for hospital admissions. You won't spend your weekends managing phone calls from anxious patients. The practice operates from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday (with your admin day off). After hours, patients are directed to appropriate urgent or emergency care resources.
Now, that said, many of the physicians choose to take informal calls from their own patients—if a lab result comes back abnormally late in the day, you might prefer to call the patient yourself rather than waiting until tomorrow. If your nurse needs clarification on an INR result, you might choose to handle it rather than sending the patient to the ER. But these are your choices based on your practice style, not mandatory coverage requirements. The flexibility to manage your own patient communications without being forced into exhausting call rotations is a genuine quality-of-life advantage.
The clinic utilizes Azalea as its electronic medical record system. While it's not Epic—and it does require some time investment to customize templates and workflows to your preferences—it’s a functional, stable EMR that allows you to practice efficiently once you learn its features. Dr. Curtis and the team have built numerous templates and shortcuts that they'll share with you. The system includes electronic prescribing, lab integration, and the ability to task between providers and staff.
Important note: Dr. Ludwick has practiced largely on paper throughout his career, with his nurse managing much of the documentation workflow. You'll be expected to embrace electronic documentation fully, which will actually improve communication, reduce errors, and speed up processes like prescription refills and test result management. The practice has access to Suki (an AI medical scribe embedded within Azalea) as an option, though physicians have mixed reviews on its effectiveness. Many physicians are exploring various AI scribing solutions, and you'll have flexibility to find what works best for your documentation style.
You'll be supported by three experienced LPNs who handle rooming patients, triage, medication refills, and care coordination. These are seasoned nurses who know the patients well and provide continuity even when there's been provider turnover. Your clinic manager, Renee, runs a tight ship—she's organized, proactive, and genuinely invested in helping physicians succeed. The front desk staff have experienced some turnover during the recent practice transitions, but the current team is stable and welcoming. You'll also have the option to supervise a nurse practitioner if one is hired for the practice, which comes with an additional supervisory stipend, though this is not expected immediately.
One of the appeals of this position is the flexibility to shape your practice within the primary care framework. Dr. Ludwick performs cryotherapy for skin lesions, joint injections (shoulders, knees, SI joints), and even provides care for a small number of patients at Life Care nursing home once monthly. Dr. Curtis does knee injections and minor excisions. If you have procedural skills you'd like to utilize—whether it's joint injections, skin procedures, or other office-based procedures—you'll have the autonomy to incorporate them into your practice. If you're interested in nursing home medicine, there's room for growth in that area. If you prefer to keep your practice purely office-based, that's equally acceptable.
While not required, many Dorminy physicians choose to pick up optional hospital shifts as hospitalists, working 12-hour shifts covering the medical/surgical floor and ICU. Dorminy Medical Center is a 25-bed critical access hospital (currently staffing for 14–16 patients during typical census periods, with the ability to expand to full capacity during busier months). The med-surg ICU has 5 beds but is typically staffed for 2 patients. As the hospitalist on duty, you'd be the sole physician covering these units, though you're supported by robust resources that make the role manageable and educational.
The hospital has invested in a 24/7 telemedicine program with approximately 40 credentialed physicians available for consultation. If a patient deteriorates or you need specialist input, you can consult with intensivists, stroke specialists, and other experts in real-time via telemedicine. For stroke patients specifically, Dorminy has a partnership that allows TPA administration under remote supervision, keeping patients local who would otherwise require transfer. When patients do need higher levels of care, Tifton serves as the destination for intermediate cases, while Macon handles tertiary care needs.
The hospital also houses a 12-bed geriatric psychiatry unit (typically running 6–8 patients) and swing beds that provide skilled nursing facility-level care in a homelike atmosphere for patients needing 10–20 day post-acute transitions. You wouldn't typically manage these specialized units, but they represent the breadth of services Dorminy provides to the community.
These hospital shifts provide additional income, clinical variety, and—perhaps most importantly—a powerful way to build your practice. Dr. Curtis notes that she consistently gains new patients from her hospital work; families are impressed by her care during a hospital admission and transfer their outpatient care to her practice. The typical hospital census of 10–14 patients makes shifts manageable, and you'll find that the experience is “not fun while you're doing it” but “very educational” and “enjoyable in hindsight.” It’s entirely optional, but it’s a unique opportunity to expand your clinical skills, increase your income, and rapidly build your patient panel in the community.
There are no teaching or research requirements for this position. This is pure clinical practice, allowing you to focus entirely on patient care without the pressures of academic productivity, grant writing, or teaching responsibilities.
This clinical environment offers something increasingly rare in modern medicine: the time and support to practice relationship-based, comprehensive family medicine in a setting where you'll be genuinely valued and where your patients will become like extended family. You'll go home each evening knowing you made a real difference in people's lives.