FoundationAnnualReport2022

I completed medical school at Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine. The third and fourth years of medical school entail clinical rotations. Ohio University is affiliated with regional training sites throughout the state. I chose Firelands because I wanted to be on Lake Erie. My three choices were Toledo, Cleveland, and Sandusky. My small-town upbringing made Sandusky the obvious choice. At that time, Firelands Hospital was the newest hospital in Ohio. The prior year Sandusky Memorial Hospital and Good Samaritan Hospital merged to become Firelands Community Hospital. The facilities were glistening, and the mood and enthusiasm were dynamic. At that time, my wife Jill and I had been married for just a year. Although neither of us was from Sandusky, we fell in love with the area. We were here for four and a half years while I completed my medical student rotations, internship, and family medicine residency at Firelands. By then, Sandusky felt like home. The hospital embraced us, helped me set up, and supported my private practice. I ultimately joined Firelands Physician Group. Jill and I are now in our 38th year of marriage. Our three children, born at Firelands, are Perkins High School graduates. Our oldest daughter Kathryn is an attorney in Chicago who will soon argue a case before the Illinois Supreme Court. Our youngest daughter Elizabeth is a rising star in Starbucks corporate management. She currently manages the Starbucks store at Playhouse Square in Cleveland, recently named the #1 performing store in a 150-store cohort. Our middle child, Dr. Daniel J. Oberer, is a Doctor of Physical Therapy. Named after my dad, he practices in Dayton. My dad is no longer living, but I know he is beaming with pride somewhere! a sparsely settled area, he was an integral part of the fabric of the community and dedicated to serving the residents. He cared deeply about his patients, and they loved him. An old-time country doctor, he had no ego and took care of everybody no matter who they were. He cared for people of all ages with all kinds of medical problems, delivered babies, made house calls, and treated patients at the hospital in the closest city. Much of his work was free, or his payment would be a farmer’s produce, a hunter’s yield, or a freshly cut Christmas tree. He considered patients as whole people. He knew their medical problems, and he also knew about their lives, including their most intimate secrets. My dad never pushed me toward a medical career, but he did show it to me. He allowed me to hang out at his office any time and took me with him on rounds at the hospital. It was not until the day that I graduated from medical school that he looked at me with a proud smile and said, “I always knew you should be a physician, but I wanted you to figure that out.” I guess he rubbed off on me! Before entering medical school, I knew I wanted to be a family physician. I was influenced by watching my dad, and my interest strengthened during my medical training. I enjoyed every rotation and every specialty. No specific specialty grabbed my attention enough to make me want to focus only on that. More importantly, I wanted to take care of the whole person. I wanted to focus not only on the patient’s medical issues but to know them as people and know their friends and families. I am now blessed to do so. I know multiple generations of families, know their neighbors, and their friends. I do not view what I do as work. I move from room to room in my office and visit friends all day! I was born in Canton, Ohio, but my family moved to Anchorage, Alaska, when I was one. We lived there for three years on Elmendorf Air Force Base, where my father was a flight surgeon and an officer. We moved back to East Sparta, Ohio, a town of 800 people with no stoplight, until my second year in high school. Another move brought us to North Canton, Ohio, where I finished high school. My interest in medicine was influenced by my father, Daniel L. Oberer, MD, who was a small-town country physician. His practice was the only one in East Sparta and several surrounding small communities. As a family doctor in such Karl Oberer, DO Family Medicine Family medicine provides continuing, comprehensive healthcare for the individual and family, integrating the biological, clinical, and behavioral sciences. The scope of family medicine encompasses all ages, all genders, each organ system, and every disease entity. 34