Hampton's small-town feel was a draw for new doctor
Published Tuesday November 4th, 2008
Medicine Dr. Beth Carson is open for business at Pharmasave building on Main Street
HAMPTON - It would seem Dr. Beth Carson has found another piece of paradise.
The family physician, who grew up in the tiny Nova Scotia town of Paradise in the Annapolis Valley, was lured to set up her new practice in Hampton because of the small-town feel that reminded her of home.
"I'm from a small town very similar to Hampton so I liked that community feel," she said. "So when it came to decide where we would settle and set up shop, Hampton was a great choice."
Dr. Carson, who did a four-month residency with Dr. Robert Fisher at his Hampton practice last year, opened her practice on Monday. She initially will be taking Hampton-area patients registered with the Atlantic Health Science Corporation's patient registry, a list of some 8,000 people in south-western New Brunswick who are without a family doctor.
"I'll be contacting those patients over the next several weeks and letting them know that I'm available," she said. "If they would like to come and be my patient that would be great."
Dr. Carson took her undergraduate degree in biochemistry from Mount Allison University in Sackville. It was there that she met her husband, Andrew Carson, who grew up on the west side of Saint John.
After receiving her degree, she decided to pursue medicine.
"Medicine gave me the opportunity to combine that science background and love of discovering things new with a chance to serve people and work with people every day and face new challenges. You never know what's going to walk in the door with family medicine. That's kind of fun."
She studied family medicine at Dalhousie University in Halifax and did two years of her family medicine residency at the Saint John Regional Hospital, a program for which she had nothing but rave reviews.
"Four out of the five residents I trained with are staying in the area," she said. "So I think the Saint John area as a whole is doing a great job in recruitment. The Saint John medical community is a huge draw to any potential new physicians. There is a wonderful working relationship between family medicine and the consultants and specialists."
While doing her four-month residency with Dr. Fisher last year, Dr. Carson fell in love with the town and its people.
"I really came to love Hampton," she said. "His patients were so wonderful and welcoming. Almost every day I was asked, 'Would you come and work here?'"
During that period, she also met with then-mayor Jim Hovey and the town's health-care committee.
"He was so encouraging and welcoming and just kept in touch with me through my residency and asked me how things were going," she said
"Hampton was always there, but it wasn't aggressive or assertive. That appealed to me. The people here were so personable. I felt if I had an issue I certainly felt I could go to the town council or the health-care committee here in Hampton and be well taken care of. I had confidence I would be supported here in Hampton."
In addition, the town put together an inviting and encouraging package of incentives, she said.
"That, combined with the fact that it's a small town, which is where I wanted to be, made it the perfect choice for us."
Dr. Carson, who recently purchased a home in Hampton with her husband, set up her office in the medical office building adjoining the Hampton Pharmasave on Main Street.
"I'm hoping to bring a couple of things to the practice," she said. "There is a move in medicine right now of moving toward almost a sub-specialization of family practice where practitioners offer only a particular type of care. But I'm looking forward to providing general practice services, so looking after families, looking after prenatal care and infants and small babies right through to seniors.
"Having had a chance to train at the Regional," she added, "and having had a chance to work with various specialists on rotation, I think it's given me a little extra insight into how best to serve my patients now that I'm out in the community."
Dr. Carson will initially be taking on 800 patients, but plans to expand that to 1,500 within 18 months. Besides accepting patients off the registry, she will be accepting names on a waiting list of people in the Hampton area looking for a new family doctor.
"I wish I could guarantee everybody a spot, but I'm only me. But I'm glad to take names of people who want to go on my waiting list."
People wanting to add their name to the waiting list are asked to call 832-2900 after 3 p.m.
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