A LIFETIME OF
CHANGE
Dr. Don Stefiuk reflects on the evolution of health care during his 40 years in practice
By Girard Hengen
Despite all of the advances Dr. Don Stefiuk witnessed during his 40 years practising medicine – new drug therapies, practice models, surgical procedures, training, equipment, and technological change – he believes physicians have lost something along the way. “To a degree, because of technology and different ways of communicating, collegiality among physicians has, I think, gradually lessened,” Dr. Stefiuk said. “It’s still there, but not in the same way that it used to be. That is something that’s sort of sad.” Dr. Stefiuk retired on June 28, 2019, after 40 years with City Centre Family Physicians of Saskatoon. He joined the original practice – Drs. Doig, Golumbia, and Associates – in 1979, when it was located in the Canada Building in downtown Saskatoon. He had just graduated from the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Medicine in 1977 and completed a two-year family medicine residency at the U of S.
W
hen Dr. Stefiuk started his career in the late 1970s, a typical day would see the practice’s four physicians doing hospital rounds first thing in the morning. They usually finished early, but didn’t have to start at the office until 10 a.m. “We’d go to the physicians’ lounge and talk with the other physicians there. It was a great opportunity to ask questions and get information, discuss your patients, and just socialize.” On Mondays, Dr. Stefiuk would work as the roster physician in the emergency department from noon to midnight. There were no emergency room physicians at the time. Family physicians in his group – and others in Saskatoon – often assisted in their own patients’ surgeries in hospital. Gradually, emergency room physicians took over ER shifts from family physicians and specialists performed the surgeries.
Dr. Stefiuk sat down with the SMA recently to reflect on a lifetime in health care.
“Family physicians have lost their position in the hospital,” said Dr. Stefiuk. “We used to visit our patients in emergency, we used to assist with surgery on our own patients. Physicians used to make rounds on their own patients, we used to care for patients in the hospital in all areas. I’m speaking mainly from our group perspective, but there were a lot of other groups that did the same thing.”
“I’ve had a chance to think about it and, my God, everything has changed,” he said. “Everything from technology to treatments have evolved and changed. It’s been quite amazing when you think about it.”
Physician groups have grown, and with the emergence of internists and specialists in hospitals, the burdens on family physicians might have lessened, but this has come at a cost in terms of continuity and collegiality, Dr. Stefiuk believes.
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SMA DIGEST | FALL 2019
