DOCTORS OF INTEREST
78
The NATIVE PHYSICIAN
BY GREG GARDNER
Dr. Leighan Howard-Talton has come
full circle by returning to Stuart and
working for the hospital where she
and her parents were born — Martin
Health System.
Her parents, Tracy and Francie Howard, were
brought into the world by the legendary Dr. Julian
Parker, who delivered almost all of the children born in
Stuart for many years. According to Francie Howard,
her daughter wanted to be a doctor since she was in
elementary school.
As a general practitioner, Talton sees hundreds of
patients — adults of all ages — each month, but her
day really begins when she arrives home at 4:30 p.m.
to take care of her twin toddlers Matt and Nat. And
before she retires for the night, Talton will spend an
hour responding to emails and taking care of other
work from her office. Her only me-time is at 5:30 a.m.,
when she spends 30 minutes surfing Pinterest Internet
sites before arriving to work at 7:15 a.m.
A true people person, Talton bubbles with enthusiasm
as she talks about her work. “I like people,” she
says confidently. “I don’t think you can do a good job
if you don’t know and understand your patients. I ask
them about themselves and that helps me remember
them. I need to know who feeds you, who waters you,
who walks you.”
Talton sees about 15 patients a day and the rest of
her free time is spent returning phone calls, looking
over test results and writing medication prescriptions,
among other duties. “This job is so hard,” she says. “If
they (patients) are telling you something, it is important
to them. A lot of times you feel like you are the
keeper of the information, kind of like an air traffic
controller. There are only so many hours in the day
and sometimes you get to the border of information
overload.”
As a teenager, Talton volunteered at Martin Memorial
Hospital, where she photographed newborn babies.
It was there she was mentored by several doctors
who would go on to write letters of recommendation
for medical school. And now those same doctors are
among the many who refer patients to Talton.
Pediatrician Douglas Bowling met Talton during her
residency rotation to treat children. “She was one of the
best (medical) students we ever had,” says Bowling.
“The first thing we realized was she learned everyone’s
name in the first 45 minutes. By the second day she
knew everyone personally. I don’t try to sell pediatrics
(to students), but I wanted to sway her. And now she is
practicing pediatrics with her own children.”
Bowling says Talton makes the medical profession
look good. “She really likes people,” he says. “She
makes the other doctors look good when she refers
patients and follows up to find out how they are doing.
She has to refer patients to specialists, but she is not
>>
Dr. Leighan
Talton’s Stuart
family practice
office has
a touch of
home including
a photo
of her twin
toddlers Nat
and Matt.
GREG GARDNER
Treasure Coast Medical Report