I didn’t expect anything life-changing by doing a WWAMI rotation, but that’s what I got out of my time in Montesano, WA with Drs. Ki and Clara Shin.

They are a husband and wife duo, UW grads from 16 years ago, who have a fantastic tiny practice in a town of 4000. The experience changed my life because it opened my eyes to a completely different model of primary care than I’ve experienced at the VA (where I have my continuity clinic).

Thanks to Ki’s focus on “the big picture”, I had a chance to learn about the nitty gritty of how his clinic stays afloat (by looking at his quarterly financial reports, hearing about his business decisions regarding hiring PAs, how he handles billing for patients on medicare, how he designed the floor plan of his clinic to improve communication between staff) as well as some exposure to small town medicine (he does his own treadmill tests and places acupuncture needles in some patients with musckuloskeletal pain).

Ki hand-picked patients on his schedule who I would benefit from seeing. Specifically, he grabbed me for any procedure or interesting rash, and consulted me on the most interesting medical mysteries he faced. I have tremendous respect for the Drs. Shin with regards to fund of knowledge, patient rapport and interest in teaching.

I also had a chance to work for a few days in the local hospital and at another IM clinic in Aberdeen. Both of those experiences served to reinforce that Dr. Shin has set up an amazingly high functioning and rewarding clinic.

Ki and Clara are also remarkably generous. They lent me a car for the month, took me mountain biking and gave me eggs from their chickens.

So how was this life-changing? I’m actually thinking of going into private practice. Think that’s crazy? You won’t after seeing how rewarding the practice that Ki and Clara have set up for themselves. It’s a completely different career than I had been considering previously, and I’m excited to have Ki as a mentor to help guide me through it.

I can’t recommend Montesano highly enough for anyone who is into Primary Care.