My interview

1. With Dr. Jon Siebert, M.D
Atchison Regional Hospital
3/27/16

2.  A: I got my undergraduate degree in biology
then went to medical school at the University
of Kansas SOM. I did my residency for 2 years
in Atchison, Kansas and then transitioned
straight into working for the hospital system
there.

3.  A: My wife grew up in Atchison and knew that
there was going to be openings in primary care
in the region as a new hospital was being built
when I was still in medical school. So I
inquired about the job when seeking residency
and the rest is history.

4.  A: I normally get to my office by around 8 AM,
sometimes later if traffic is bad (I work at an
addiction clinic some mornings 45 minutes
away). Normally I am done by around 2 or 3
pm, so I eat a late lunch at home and then relax
for the rest of the day. Sometimes my case load
is high, in which case I just eat lunch at the
hospital and work through the day.

5.  A: Does working at the addiction clinic count? I
have been working more and more there
because I find working with those patients to
be very enjoyable.

6.  Being a devout Catholic, I am strongly against
abortion. However, I have had patients come in
who have inquired about having one done.
While it is against my religion, I feel that I
should direct them to someone who will
perform one if I cannot persuade them not to
get the procedure done.

7.  A: I am a pretty laid back guy, so I try to keep
the office feeling the same way. I am lucky to
have a couple of CMA’s who are very similar
to me in this sense. So I like to think we have a
very easy-going office, when there’s not a
backlog of patients of course

8.  A: It is somewhat difficult to “advance” per se
as a primary care physician because I do not
have a specialty degree. But you can advance
by taking on more patients and therefore
getting paid more money I guess.

9.  A: The hospital tried to cut my pay a couple
years back, but they realized pretty quickly
that if I left almost all of my patients would
leave with me. So I would say I’m pretty secure
in my job.

10.  A: Making sure that patients actually listen to
and follow my advice. I will end up seeing the
same patients over and over again that don’t
seem to want to fix or even address their
problems (like diabetes patients for example).
So it is definitely a struggle to try to get
through to these patients?

11.  A: Probably the fact that I get to work with the
same people throughout the year. Being able to
treat and follow up with one of my patients
through every step of their healthcare process
is something that I think is very unique and
something that really drew me to the field.

12.  A: Expanding, but not anywhere close to the
amount that we need. With Obamacare adding
so many new patients to the mix, I feel really
bad for guys just getting done with residency.
They just end up getting swamped with work

13.  A: Absolutely. I think that the amount of
patients is just gonna keep climbing and
climbing. Hopefully there will be ways to make
it easier for people to get into primary care
(cheaper school or more residency slots) but I
really am concerned for people like yourself
going into this field

14.  A: Treat every patient with the kind of
professionalism and respect that you would
expect if you were a patient. A lot of doctors
disregard patient statements or treat patients
condescendingly and there’s really no good
reason for that

15.  A: I read the Journal of Addiction Medicine,
because that is where I am transitioning in
practice. But as a pre-med student I really just
recommend reading as many journal articles as
possible, as that is what you’ll be doing in med
school and beyond

16.  A: Apply everywhere that you can see yourself
going. Also, make sure to have your AMCAS
application as well-done as you possibly can,
as almost every school is going off of what you
give them through that service. Finally, don’t
stress if you don’t make it in your first go-
around. It happens a lot and is not the end of
the world.