Love the One You're With

I live on the border between Georgia and South Carolina. I do a little work on some weekends covering a crisis unit on the Georgia side of the Savannah River, but most of my clinical work happens on the South Carolina side, seeing patients in almost twenty five hospital emergency rooms via telepsychiatry technology. I also cover some clinic work in Carolina as well. Most of the docs I interact with are in the SC systems, go to SC meetings and belong to SC medical organizations. I am a member of the American Psychiatric Association, and as a part of that I am signed up to be a member of a more local District Branch. In my case, since my residency is in Georgia, that's where my District membership was channeled.

There's a problem with that, though. I have long since been done with training in Georgia. I have no partners in Georgia. I do very little work in Georgia. So, when it comes time to attend continuing education meetings or business meetings in Georgia, I know few people involved. I'd much rather attend a meeting in Charleston and run into a few doctors from the mental health centers that I've visited in the past than go to Atlanta and feel very isolated.

Medicine is a social endeavor, but it can be very isolating if you do the kind of job I do most of my working hours. Membership in medical and other professional organizations can offset some of that isolation by connecting with colleagues once or twice a year for meetings, or every month or two for dinner programs or other presentations. The question is, do you align yourself with those who live in the same geographic area, or do you flock to the people you know and work with most often? Do you love the one you're with?

For me, that's an easy choice. Columbia is closer than Atlanta for large meetings, Charleston is great for winter meetings and catching up with colleagues, and I know far more doctors in the various SC systems than I could ever hope to in my "home" state. I'll be writing a letter to the District Branch soon to switch allegiance back to Carolina.

Georgia will always be on my mind, but the smiling faces and friendly places of South Carolina will always be irresistible draws for me as well.

Do you have areas of your life that call for split allegiances or put you in positions that call for tough choices?