But Buczynski, unusually sure of himself for a man of just 30, had dreamed of running his own practice. So he cold-called Don Battista, the longtime CEO of Garrett County Memorial Hospital, the 56-bed facility that is the only one out here at the state's western extreme. Battista is used to getting such calls, but they're typically from doctors who come to nearby Deep Creek Lake on vacation and fantasize about a permanent move to a slower pace. That's when Battista has to break the news: This job is no lazy day on the water.
As the two spoke, Battista could see that Buczynski was serious, and soon they struck a deal. The hospital would make Buczynski a small loan to set up office space and eventually pay off his $140,000 in student debt. The local economic development agency would lend more for electronic medical records. When he arrived five years ago in October, there were six patients scheduled that first day.
Today, Buczynski, a former outside linebacker who looks as if he could still fit into his University of Virginia uniform, has built a practice of 10,000 patients - men, women and children drawn to his gentle demeanor and practical manner. His Wellspring Family Medicine employs 23 people, including a partner and three physician's assistants, at the main location in Oakland and a satellite office 20 miles up the road in Accident. He is hoping to recruit a third doctor this summer.
It's a calling
"I always felt called to this kind of practice," says Buczynski, who attends the Faith Evangelical Free Church with his pregnant wife and their three young children. "And you really need that calling because to go to a recruiting fair and say, 'Come to rural America where everyone will know your car, your business, your house, what kind of chicken you buy at Wal-Mart, and you'll take call 168 hours at a time and there's no mall for an hour and a half. ...'
"When you start talking about those things, it's a real detractor to a lot of physicians."
There are four family doctors in Garrett County who deliver babies, and two must be on call at all times. Buczynski and his partner, Dr. Richard Porter, alternate weeks on call. Before Porter arrived in September 2006, only two doctors in the county delivered babies. It was the medical equivalent of house arrest: Neither could travel more than 20 minutes from the hospital at any time. Battista calls it "an unusually generous commitment to make to a community."
