The First Presentation

Today we had our first presentation here in the community of Lincoln City. We were hosted by Drs. Albert and Myra Thompson of the Bayshore Family Medicine Clinic. Early in the afternoon we had met Dr. Thompson, a Lincoln County family physician of nearly 29 years, and took a tour of his very nice Pacific City clinic. We stopped at Dr. Thompson's house on the way to the Community Center to freshen up, where we treated to a delicious dinner prepared by his wife and fellow Bayshore Practitioner Myra. And it wasn't just us she hosted! It turns out she had invited in friends, family and other colleagues, and the table was set for twelve. We could hardly believe her generosity as homemade cream of tomato soup and fresh made bread were served all around. Feeling refreshed and well fed, we then traveled onward to the center for our inaugural presentation.

We had spent the night before rehearsing, and were all feeling pretty confident as we walked into the Community Center. However, this was our first presentation, and there were bound to be a few kinks. Wes, as master of ceremonies, performed admirably under pressure when it became apparent that our beloved netbook which contained our presentation video might have given up the ghost at the most inopportune moment. He rearranged the presentation on the fly while Nate and I scrambled desperately in the background to find a new laptop and and figure out how to download the video. I would like to say that we responded to the crisis with such fluidity the no one in the audience was the wiser, but alas, this was not the case. Our supportive audience did not seem to mind the occasional delays.

Although the audience was small, they were all actively engaged. Several members of the Bayshore Clinic attended. Also in attendance were Allyson Longueira, the editor in chief of the Lincoln City News Guard, Linda Armstrong, a well spoken citizen from Depoe Bay, and Michelle Thomas from the Oregon Rural Practice Network. There was a lively question and answer session following the presentation, with a lot of discussion about how to expose more medical students to the pleasures of working in rural Oregon.

Other highlights of the day included a relaxed afternoon playing on the dunes of Pacific City, watching the dories race onto the beach, and a perfect ride along the gorgeous old highway 101 from Pacific City to Lincoln City led by Dr. Thompson and his son, Sydney Thompson. We are currently enjoying the hospitality of the Thompson family.  Thanks so much for putting us up!