Hanging up the lab coat

By NOREEN HYSLOP

Managing Editor

Neal Garner recalls that growing up in the 1960s at 31 Cottage Lane in Dexter had its advantages.

"We lived next door to Dr. G.W. Dickerson, and he had a significant influence on my life," he recalls.

Garner's parents, Winford and Emily Garner, couldn't have known the degree of that influence upon their only son who would come to be a doctor himself later in life.

Nearly 40 years later, Dr. Neal Garner is about to hang up his stethoscope and enjoy what retirement has to offer.

"I never wanted to be one who stayed at it too long and had someone tapping me on the shoulder one day telling me, 'Doc, it's time to go.' I've had a great run at it, but it's time to call it quits."

Inspired also by the work of the late Dr. Robert Boon of Dexter, Garner actually had aspirations as a college student to earn his degree in dentistry. All that changed, however, while attending Memphis State University to pursue his undergraduate degree.

"I ended up taking a course my sophomore year called Comparative Anatomy, where we'd perform dissections, and I really enjoyed it."

It was at that point that his interests began to sway from the dental field to the field of osteopathic medicine, but his mind wouldn't be made up until he went through the interview process for medical school following his junior year at Memphis.

"I had my dental interview first, and I was nervous as a cat," he recalls.

The interview was with the University of Missouri Kansas City Dental School. Garner was 21 years old and was accompanied by his parents to the school. Immediately following the one-on-one question and answer period, he was offered a place upon graduation to attend the dental school.

"I told them I was overwhelmed, and that we were going to be in town overnight and that I'd like to think about it. I told them I'd come in personally the next morning and let them know."

Garner shakes his head today at the memory of telling a premiere dental school that he would "think about it."

But there was another interview set up the following morning at the Kansas City College of Osteopathic Medicine. The routine questioning was the same as he'd faced the previous day, but the outcome was different. Once again he was offered a place on the roster once he graduated from Memphis, but this time, he didn't decline.

"Without a second thought, I accepted," he says. "I believe the good Lord had me right there and I was hooked, but during that interview, he reeled me in," he explains.

Garner was on his way to a lifetime career as a doctor of osteopathic medicine, and he's never regretted one day along the way.

He first donned his lab coat in the days when physicians still made house calls.

"I recall making a few house calls when I first went into practice," he remembers, "and yes, I had a little black bag. My nurse would accompany me to take the patient's vitals. You know, there were just some folks who couldn't get out of their homes, and we took care of them."

Garner's internship took place at what was Normandy Osteopathic Hospital in St. Louis -- now knowns as DePeres Hospital.

"I think about that now, and realize there were 13 interns to cover about 450 beds. It was a great experience."

Early in his medical career, Garner married his wife, Laverne. The two have a grown son and daughter and have shared 42 years of marriage.

Unlike the route most physicians take today, Neal Garner only made two moves over his four decades of practicing medicine. He first practiced in 1975 in Eureka, Mo., where he remained until he set up his own clinic in Bernie in May 1977. In January 2001, he moved about seven miles up the road and into the Dexter Medical Center, where he found himself over the years treating not only the children of some children he doctored early in his career, but not the children of those children.

Garner is quick to credit both his patients and his staff for his successful medical career.

"I work with an amazing staff at Dexter Medical Center, and I've had two wonderful nurses working by my side. Jackie Mayberry has been my nurse for the past 15 years and before that, Vickie Moody had been with me for 15 and one half years before she retired. It's that continuity that makes a good practice work."

Over a 40 year span, Garner has seen his share of changes in the medical field, but the most significant one, he says, was the recent governmental changes that have come with the Affordable Health Act.

"In some instances, I've had patients who have taken the same medications for many years and have had great success with those medications, but now we have insurance companies telling us that they will no longer cover those medications.

"Insurance has more control over the medical field than they probably should have," he notes. "I think what we're seeing is people with no medical experience with a checklist in front of them that is governing the way we prescribe medications, and that's not good."

That frustration, Garner affirms, has somewhat influenced his recent decision to retire. While he says he'll miss the practice, he won't miss the problems that have come with the government changes in medicine.

"What I'd love to do is take my little examining room with me and leave the rest behind," he laughs, "I'd be happy for a long time."

A reception will be held to honor the career of Dr. Neal Garner on Sunday, Aug. 31 at Cox Corner in Dexter from 2-4 p.m. The Garners encourage all friends, family, and of course patients to attend, but stress that no gifts are necessary. Well wishes and perhaps a card are all they wish to receive.