Dr. Ronnie Laney, a family physician at an urgent care in Burlington, N.C., grew up wanting to be a doctor, but did not know how to begin the journey.

He wrote an essay when he was younger about how medicine marries the two things he loves most in the world – science and people.

He worked in a country club where he knew several doctors that were members there. Dr. Laney would ask their advice on what it was like to be up for 36 hours in a row or to be on call. One of the doctors connected him to Dr. Hey.

When Dr. Laney started shadowing under Dr. Hey, he was in his 20’s without much knowledge about the medical profession.

“Dr.Hey scared me so many times, but it was a good scare,” Dr. Laney said. “I came to work everyday prepared to impress him.”

Dr. Hey gave Dr. Laney the opportunity to speak in front of other physicians and supported him in his research.

Compassionate Care

“I learned how to talk to a patient in a room and sometimes Dr. Hey would pray with them,” said Dr. Laney. “I n longer saw medicine as just a job, but really saw the humanity side of it.”

He started to see the nuances of the provider/patient relationship as his role became larger than simply treating and seeing the importance of their preferences and concerns as people. Dr. Laney even goes on to ask his patients to call him Ronnie rather than Dr. Laney.

“Following Dr. Hey, I saw the critical thinking side of medicine about research and getting published, but also saw the people,” Dr. Laney said.

Dr. Hey emphasizes shared decision making which honors patient preference while sharing information on risks and benefits of treatments.

Despite few physicians at Dr. Laney’s clinic taking mentees, Dr. Laney continually takes in medical students not only to give back, but to train up colleagues he trust to carry on the profession.

“[I want] to show them the side [of medicine] that Dr. Hey showed me,” Dr. Laney said. “This is going to be a tough road, but it can be fun and so rewarding.”