After practicing medicine for more than 20 years, Dr. Walter Pharr has learned that one thing is more important than his experience — or even his medical knowledge.
“Listening is the most important part of my job,” says Pharr, 51, a general internist with Greensboro Medical Associates (GMA). “I need to be able to listen not only to the patient, but to their family members to figure out what is going on in the patient’s life.”
General internists, who commonly act as primary care physicians, specialize in the prevention, diagnosis and nonsurgical treatment of a variety of illnesses affecting adults. As diagnostic experts, internists — not to be confused with interns, who are doctors in their first year of a medical residency — often have to “put all the pieces together in a puzzle,” says Pharr, adding that he believes knowing a patient well ultimately helps physicians make an accurate diagnosis and prescribe the most effective course of treatment.
Pharr’s journey into the world of medicine began after graduating from Greensboro’s Smith High School and receiving a Bachelor of Science from Davidson College. Pursuing his dream to become a physician, Pharr enrolled in the Duke University School of Medicine, where he earned his medical degree. He then began a three-year residency with UNC Hospitals. A passionate traveler, he took a year off from his residency to serve as a medical volunteer in Pakistan. He then finished his residency in 1989 at the Medical Center Hospital of Vermont in Burlington, Vt.
In 1991, Pharr returned to Greensboro to work at GMA, a multispecialty private practice with 12 physicians representing a variety of specialties including cardiology, rheumatology, endocrinology and internal medicine.
Each day, as he puts together the “puzzle” that is each patient’s health condition, Pharr says he values the expertise of his colleagues and the accessibility of having different specialists in the same practice. “It’s reassuring for me, as a doctor, to be able to easily ask another doctor a question,” he says. “You have a colleague right at hand to bounce an issue off of.”
GMA’s medical approach is to treat “the body as a whole rather than the sum of its parts divided by specialties,” according to its Web site. It’s one of the reasons Pharr chose GMA. He felt the practice allowed time for physicians to listen to patients to learn about their needs, concerns, health histories and lifestyle, all of which are critically important for internists, who must assess, diagnose and treat a wide range of health issues.
“If the internist is the sleuth, then the patient is the colleague who helps to solve the medical problem,” Pharr says. Reto Biaggi is one of those “colleagues.” Biaggi, 44, has been a patient of Pharr’s for the past three years. He says he appreciates the doctor’s emphasis on communication.
“He takes the time to get familiar with you at the very first appointment,” Biaggi says. “Dr. Pharr spent quite a while talking to me and getting to know me.”
That proved important when Pharr learned about the history of cancer in Biaggi’s family. Although Biaggi wasn’t experiencing any outward symptoms at the time, Pharr decided a fecal test was warranted as part of a comprehensive physical assessment, which Biaggi had never had. Sure enough, the test revealed abnormalities, leading Pharr to recommend Biaggi undergo an early colonoscopy. That procedure usually isn’t recommended until age 50. Three precancerous polyps were found and subsequently removed.
Throughout the process, Biaggi felt like he was in good hands. Pharr not only asked Biaggi about his health history, but talked with him about his extensive travel and his involvement in Boy Scouts of America — two interests the men share. “I’ve never really experienced anything like it.” Biaggi says. “I feel like he really knows me.”
Pharr explains his approach this way: “A doctor is a caregiver, offering emotional support and reassurance to patients that they are doing the right thing for themselves and their family.”
