By Setarreh Massihzadegan
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

Even between bites on his lunch break, Dr. Mark Samuelson finds himself advising a patient he’s run into at Linden Ponds’ Acorn Pub. As she sits down to eat, he reminds her to drink plenty of warm liquids to combat her cold, and  she promises to take his advice.

As the director of the Linden Ponds medical center, Dr. Samuelson is just a short walk away from most of his patients’ homes, making encounters like this  one common. But it’s for more than just the proximity to his patients that Dr. Samuelson raves about his work environment.

“This is sort of a doctor’s dream,” he says. “Not only [do we have] a good medical center and computerized records, but all the residents have physical fitness, are well fed, and are socially active,” he adds.

Primary care
Dr. Samuelson estimates that about three quarters of the people living at Linden Ponds use one of the two doctors at the community’s medical center as their primary care physician. Even so, Dr. Samuelson takes just 15 patients a day, allowing him more time with each one than he had in his previous practices.

“I went from 20–25 patients a day to 15,” he says. “It’s beautiful—I’m still so busy, but you can do a much better job; you can address a lot more of their problems.”

Dr. Samuelson’s patients also  appreciate him. Bob Wittenauer, who lives at Linden Ponds, says, “I found my previous doctor easy to talk to, but I find Dr. Samuelson easier [to talk to].”

Wealth of expertise
At the medical center, Dr. Samuelson works alongside Dr. Jennifer Tam, who is trained in internal medicine and primary care and has completed a geriatrics fellowship at Harvard Medical School’s Division on Aging. Dr. Samuelson says Linden Ponds will add another physician to its staff this year.

The community also offers the services of a number of specialists, including an on-site podiatrist, dentist, and mental health provider.