Issue link: http://kusm-wichita.uberflip.com/i/260728
Cultural understanding key to success The framed, hand-written letter from a patient that hangs on Dr. Francisco Chacon's wall isn't your usual glowing testimonial. In fact, it's full of complaints. "I give up trying to doctor with you," the writer finally concludes. "It just don't work." Chacon, asked why he displays the letter, says simply: "Motivation. I'm sure he's partially right." Perhaps. But motivation doesn't seem to be a problem for Chacon. A native of the northern Mexico state of Chihuahua, Chacon, now 34, came to Liberal with his family just before the start of his second year of grade school. He learned English, did "OK" in school (he chose not to participate in National Honor Society), and won a state wrestling championship as a 140-lb. senior. Hometown boy to hometown doc After finishing his medical education at the University of Kansas School of Medicine–Wichita, Chacon returned to his adopted hometown, which sits on the Oklahoma border and has a population of just over 20,000. Its large immigrant population, harsh environment, poverty, and other factors make practicing medicine even more challenging. That's clear as Chacon sees patients in the Liberal Family Medicine clinic, which is attached to Southwest Medical Center. His examination rooms stay full of patients ranging from 4-month-old Elijah Brewer, in for a routine checkup, to a 96-year-old resident of an assisted living facility who's suffering restless leg syndrome. Elijah is the son of Chacon's nurse practitioner, Holly Brewer. Chacon banters with Holly as she lays her son on the examining table. "You don't have any depression?" he asks. "Work is going OK?" "Uh, yeah," Holly says with a smile. In the next room is a manual laborer, experiencing chronic pain over most of her body. She's tearful as she describes her condition and reliance on the pain medica- tion she's taking. "I take two (of the prescribed doses), I'm not going to lie to you," she tells Chacon. Next up is a woman who is suffering from pain in her left knee. She hands Chacon a box of pills from Mexico – apparently a mix of vitamins, aspirin, and a painkiller – that she's been taking. "We see a lot of medica- tion from foreign countries," Chacon says. He orders an MRI for her knee. Many cases … personalized treatment According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Liberal had the highest percentage of foreign-born residents of anyplace in the nation last year. Jobs in the meatpacking plant drew Chacon's own family to Liberal when he was a boy. Pick any place in rural Kansas. If there's a doctor in town, that doctor is almost certainly a graduate of the KU School of Medicine–Wichita. Here are three of their stories. RURAL HEALTH "Mill Creek Stone School" by Harold Gaston The University of Kansas Medical Center's Rural Kansas Photography Contest invites Kansans to capture the beauty of our state with their cameras, showing the things that make Kansas a great place to live, work, and play. 6 7