Dr. H. Ken Boake became a doctor for two reasons.
The first was an admiration for the local doctor, a close family friend, who pointed Boake in the medical direction.
The other reason, says Boake, draws more laughs.
“I grew up on a farm,” said Boake, 76. “We had about 300 cattle and I got tired of cleaning corrals so I decided to stay in school.”
In the summers, Boake worked on the family farm in Acme, near Carstairs, to raise the nearly $10,000 tuition needed for six years of medical school. In 1960, he graduated from the University of Alberta with a class of about 61 other fresh faced graduates.
A year later, Boake became the 19th doctor in Red Deer with a population hovering around 19,000.
But more remarkably Boake began his career at one of the two medical clinics in the city — The Parsons Clinic owned by doctors MacGregor and William Parsons, sons of Dr. Richard Parsons, Red Deer’s first physician.
And 50 years later, Boake is still seeing patients at the clinic on 4822 50th Street.
Time flies by when you are not “working but practicing,” jokes Boake about the milestone he will celebrate on July 1.
“You know to me it doesn’t seem that long,” he said. “I suppose if you like what you are doing you don’t get bored or tired ... I liked doing what I was doing. I still do.”
The thought of leaving Red Deer or The Parsons Clinic for a larger centre never crossed his mind.
Maybe it had something to do with his roots.
In the 1930s, his grandmother turned her farmhouse into a makeshift maternity ward after her eight children grew up and moved away. Halfway between Swalwell, south of Three Hills, and Acme, the farmhouse was one of the lucky few with a telephone.
“She was able to contact the doctor in Swalwell or the doctor in Acme to come and deliver the babies,” said Boake.
His grandmother had no training as a midwife but helped the doctors for about 15 years.
“I remember being in her house when I was just a little guy,” said Boake. “When she quit her job of helping deliver babies, she had delivered just over 800 babies in that length of time.”
At The Parsons Clinic, Boake practiced the full scope of what it means to be a general practitioner, which included delivering babies. Boake will not even try to guess the number of babies he delivered in five decades.
Early on in his career, however, he became interested in treating patients with back problems. Dr. William Parsons, a radiologist, was well known in the community for treating patients with back problems. Parsons’ had back surgery which wasn’t entirely successful. He delved into research about new treatments or solutions for his patients with back problems. After watching Parsons’ successfully adjust or manually manipulate a patient’s back, Boake’s interest was piqued. In 1965, Parsons and Boake attended an international conference on manual medicine in London, England. There were 11 physicians from North America who attended the conference. The doctors formed the North American Association of Manipulative Medicine. Boake was the president twice.
The association still exists today in various Canadian and American forms.
Boake continued his focus on back research but also became interested in conducting allergy testing. These days Boake works a shorter work week and has narrowed his practice to the two areas.
Boake said he has noticed that many of his peers are not doing such a wide range of general practice like in the older days. Boake said this is good news for the patients especially if they go to a clinic because these doctors are kept up to date on the latest research and practice. He has welcomed the advances in medicine but misses the days when the Parsons’ doctors would host weekly meetings to share and discuss new practices and research.
The workplace is not the only place that has changed. Boake said some of his patients think they are doctors because of the Internet. Many come in armed with treatment suggestions or even self-diagnosis.
The Parsons Clinic closes on June 30, 2012, and a new office is planned in a commercial building at 32nd Street Crossing. Boake is one of the 17 doctors affiliated with the existing clinic. The new practice has room for eight doctors. Boake would like to shift over to the new clinic if there is a spot for him.
The septuagenarian has no plans to hang up his stethoscope anytime soon. Boake thinks he is the longest practicing doctor in the city and he would like to keep that title.
“There’s another doctor who is older who would like me to quit so he can stay longer,” laughed Boake. “That’s Dr. (Robert) Cooper. He came two years after I did.”
crhyno@www.reddeeradvocate.com