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he said. “I liked the town, I liked the group of doctors I would be joining and I got very excited about practicing both family medicine and surgery in such an integrated, professional environment”. “The completion of my training coincided with Dr. Cohoon’s desire to retire.” .. Dr. Martin Stewart He continued, “I inherited Dr. Cohoon’s patients and made what I think was a fairly smooth transition to family medicine and surgery in Port Perry.” Dr. Stewart's takeover of Dr. Cohoon’s practice created a rare and rewarding situation for Dr. Stewart. Years ago, a doctor/ surgeon mix was not unheard of. In this day and age of specialization and more finely tuned standards, it is unusual to find asurgeon who also functions as a family doctor. Dr. Stewart explained, “In the beginning it was a necessity. Having Dr. Cohoon’s family medicine pa- tients was a good balance for me; it was a way to cope with the intensity of surgery”. However, as time went by, he be- gan to really appreciate the joy with the type of practice he had taken over and was building. “It’s uncommon for a surgeon to keep up a family practice and although mine is only about fifteen percent of my work I feel it is im- mensely important. It has taught me that you have to listen to people and I believe it has given me the best of both worlds,” he says. Dr. Stewart and his two surgical colleagues are general surgeons, all trained in all basic ‘core surgical’ procedures, including caesarean sections and some cancer surgery operations — mainly breast and colo- rectal cancer. The fact that cancer surgery can be performed in Port Perry comes as a surprise to some patients, who pre- sume once cancer has been detected, the patient will be transferred to the oncology department in Oshawa. Dr. Stewart explains, “As a surgeon, and part of a three-hospital health unit, I work closely with col- leagues in Oshawa to manage onco- logical patients. What is very special to me is that I can follow a patient of mine through some very difficult times because of the cancer surgeries they require — with certain kinds of cancer I can be with them every step of the way.” “We are lucky being in a smaller town. The breadth of surgical Please turn to page 30 “It’s uncommon for a surgeon to keep up a family practice, but | feel it is immensely important.” ... Dr. Martin Stewart 4th Annual Cle British Motor Sho cugog arts fetal * This year’s theme is: D6, Downtown Port Perry gust 12, Jam - 4pm wwnw.discoverportperry.ca On Saturday the oon from Ipm - Spm, shop t music by local bands performing downtown on Queen Street and Water Street. to great August 16-19 Cheatre www.scugogarts.ca Bae PERRY BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION ok-OFF Celebration September 23 Sar m-5pm Downtown Vendors wanted M for the upcoming Home & Décor Show ya Nov. 9th from5-9pm_ and Nov. 10th from 9am — 4 pm The Scugog Community Centre. lh or contact: 905-985-4971 ¢ info@scugogchamber.ca ¢ scu: FOCUS - JULY 2012 29 07. JULY FOCUS 64 pages.indd 29 12-06-25 11:19 AM