54 THE QUEENS COURIER • HEALTH • SEPTEMBER 7, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
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Primary Care Physicians Play
a Vital Role in Your Health
In her role as a primary care provider,
Elizabeth Fung, DO, gets to follow her
patients over the duration of their adult
lives, establishing long and fulfi lling personal
relationships with them.
It’s a role that is not only important, it
can be lifesaving.
“Over time, I get to know my patients,
their family situation, their job pressures
and their goals. Th is helps me get a
sense of them overall and it allows me to
assess what’s normal and what’s not for
them,” says Dr. Fung, who sees patients
at Northwell Health’s multi-specialty center
in Rego Park.
Th at came into play a few years ago
when a patient Dr. Fung had treated for
two years came in for a check-up. Th e
patient, a woman in her mid-60s, was
normally very gregarious, positive and
energetic. But this time, she was very
quiet and not quite herself.
“She didn’t have any fever. Her vital
signs were all stable, but there was something
that wasn’t right about her,” said
Dr. Fung. “I decided to order some labs
on her.”
Later that evening, Dr. Fung’s offi ce got
a call from the lab stating that her patient
had a high level of calcium in her blood.
Th e patient immediately went to the hospital
emergency room.
“We later determined it was a complication
of one her medical conditions
that she had,” explained Dr. Fung. “If it
wasn’t for really knowing the patient and
knowing that was not her normal self
she would not have recovered as well as
she did.”
As vital as primary care physicians
are, they are one of the least chosen
career paths for medical school graduates.
A 2016 report by the Association
of American Medical Colleges estimates
a shortfall of between 14,900 and 35,600
primary care physicians nationwide by
2025.
“Th at’s very unfortunate because primary
care medicine is really a very important
integral part of a patient’s overall health
and well being,” said Dr. Fung.
Ironically, primary care was not Dr.
Fung’s fi rst choice of profession, which
was electrical engineering. It was while
completing her Masters Degree in electrical
engineering at Columbia University
that the seeds of Dr. Fung’s future were
planted.
“As a young person I just never went
for medical checkups because I felt great.
I think that’s one of the many misconceptions
that people have about primary care
providers, that you only see them when
you’re sick,” explained Dr. Fung.
But a few weeks before graduation, she
went to the college’s student health offi ce
to see what services they off ered. While
Dr. Elizabeth Fung addresses a patient’s questions about treatment follow-up at Northwell Health’s multi-specialty center in Rego Park.
there, a mass in her breast was detected
by the doctor and she was sent for a biopsy.
Although benign, it led to her choosing
a primary care physician – one who
specialized in oncology – for follow-up
care and forging a lasting patient/doctor
relationship.
Fast forward 10-plus years later, and the
successful electrical engineer for AT&T
was looking for a new challenge.
“I reached a point in my career where
I wanted to apply my technical skills in
a way that I could make a personal difference
in peoples’ lives,” said Dr. Fung.
As she embarked on the next phase in
her life as a student at New York College
of Osteopathic Medicine she simultaneously
dealt with a health issue from her
past. Triumphant with both challenges,
Dr. Fung is board certifi ed in internal
medicine – which deals with the prevention,
diagnosis and treatment of diseases
in adults – and is an assistant professor
at Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine.
“I think my personal experience of
being a patient for many years gives me a
unique perspective and understanding for
what patients go through,” said Dr. Fung,
who now practices in the same Rego Park
community that she grew up in.