What It Means to be a Family Physician: Reflections on a Decade with Dr. Robert Barker

This month is a slight deviation from talking about direct primary care or wellness in general. It’s more of an homage. It’s why I started Wellspring and very much the reason I’m who I am today.

Last year Robert told me of his plans to retire. In hindsight, that was the final push I needed to pursue what I feel is the most pure and honest approach to caring for our patients. In thanks, I want to take this month to pay special tribute to Dr. Robert Barker, a most compassionate physician and joyful servant.

In 2010 I was offered a position with Parkway Medical Group, which I gladly accepted. This is the job that brought Jenny and I to the mountains, and I still remember how the “interview” with Dr. Barker felt. Coming from active duty, dress clothes were scarce in my closet. The Army didn’t have much need for suits. With full intentions to impress, I bought some nice clothes and a tie. I showed up at the Black Mountain office and was given the grand tour. For anyone who has ever stepped foot in that office, you’ll understand that it took all of five minutes to see everything…twice. Dr. Barker wore jeans and that classic smile that just puts you at ease. His first question to me after the tour was, “Do you have anything else to wear? I thought we’d just go for a hike.” I was sold! I’ll save you the boredom of recounting my lagging trek up Rattlesnake Mountain, but suffice to say he did all the talking in that interview.

We’d only lived in Black Mountain a couple years, when in 2012, my wife and I considered accepting a position near some close friends in Winston-Salem. I called Robert to let him know I was going to quit. This was the first time he spoke into my life (yes, there were many others). He didn’t try to talk me into staying. I asked if I could come over for coffee to talk. His wife, Jessie, welcomed me at the door and led me out to where Robert was sitting on the back porch. To be honest, it kind of felt like that scene in Top Gun when Maverick goes to visit Viper just looking for someone who might have answers.

We sat on the porch as I presented my reasoning and justifications for wanting to move. Robert mostly listened. If anything, he was more validating than skeptical. It surprised me. In the end, I don’t know if I talked myself out of the decision or he subversively led me, but it became quite clear. While the job was a good fit, and we could have done well, it’s not where I was called to serve. Being a good family physician is the ability to listen and mentor. It’s someone who helps you to see the hope in yourself.

When I called my wife to tell her I had changed my mind, I knew it was the right call. In a most gracious act, Robert didn’t hold a grudge, but immediately gave me my job back and we went on as if nothing had ever happened.

Going the extra mile has never seemed like a burden for Robert. As a matter of fact, he is so good at it, you’d assume this is the way every doctor behaves (and in many ways maybe we should). There are too many stories to recount but humor me one…it’s always been a favorite. On call one winter evening, Robert received a page from a patient of our practice. If memory serves me, this was not his personal patient either. They were elderly, diabetic, and in need of insulin. It had just snowed a couple inches in Black Mountain. I’m not trying to set up a dramatic movie scene here, but you see where this is going. Robert called the pharmacy to order insulin, then got out in the snow to pick it up and deliver it to their door. I’m here to tell you this is not the way every doctor behaves. There is no compensation for this act. This is no acknowledgement even. Robert did it because it’s the right thing to do. He did it because that’s what it means to be a good family physician.

Over the last decade of my life, I’ve had the honor to call Robert my friend and my mentor (the latter of which I’m sure he’d adamantly deny). Family Medicine has always been where God wanted me to serve, but I didn’t learn what that really meant until working under this man. If you want to know what it means to be a family physician, just speak with anyone who has had the pleasure to work with, be cared for, or simply go on a hike with Dr. Robert Barker.

There is a Bible verse in my clinic that helps ground the mission of Wellspring. It reads, “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” Should I take anything from Dr. Barker, may it be purity, goodness, and sincerity. I really did quit my job again in 2016 and Robert was there again with that gentle smile when I returned, welcoming, mentoring, and guiding.

On October 14, Dr. Robert Barker will have seen his last patient at AdventHealth Medical Group in Black Mountain. He will “officially” retire from healthcare, but he will always be a compassionate physician and a joyful servant. He will always be a faithful friend. And whether he likes it or not, he will always be a mentor. We all need a guide at times to help us find the right path. Dr. Robert Barker has been the best guide I could ask for and in retirement I wish he and Jessie the very best. Here’s to a race well run and all the new adventures that await.

Thank you,

Wes