By Raquel Daisy

 
Photo courtesy of Dr. Lonergan

Fort Worth, Texas (September 14, 2011) – Providing medical advice in a community healthcare setting can be intimidating for some physicians. NTSP physician Dr. Frank Lonergan is not only volunteering his time serving patients at a local free clinic, he is encouraging others in the medical community to become more active in sharing their expertise.

Dr. Lonergan grew up in Boston, Massachusetts and followed an educational path toward the life sciences. He graduated from Harvard College in 1973 and continued on to Harvard Medical School and graduated in 1977. “At the time I wasn’t exactly sure why I decided to attend medical school,” said Dr. Lonergan. “But I was already familiar with life sciences so medical school seemed to be a natural extension of an already familiar area.” His desire to go into family medicine developed in his first year of medical school. “I loved the family medicine preceptorship in my first year of medical school and thought it would be a rewarding specialty to go into,” said Dr. Lonergan.

Following medical school, Lonergan completed his residency at Medical University in South Carolina where he served as Chief Resident. After completing his residency, he took a year off to practice in an underserved community in rural South Carolina. After serving there, he moved to Oklahoma for a brief period until a friend offered him an opportunity in Azle, Texas. Lonergan has practiced in Azle since 1984 and is actively involved in the community. He served on the Hospital Board for a number of years and was the president of the chamber of commerce. This year he is helping sponsor a helmet giveaway for the Texas Medical Association’s (TMA) Hard Hats for Little Heads program. The Hard Hats program encourages Texas children to wear helmets while riding a bicycle. To date, the program has given away 100,000 bike helmets to Texas children.

Lonergan is also actively involved with Cornerstone Assistance Network – a non-profit, faith-based organization located in Fort Worth that provides free healthcare services and programs to families in Tarrant County. He sees a variety of patients when volunteering in the Cornerstone medical clinic but finds the bulk of his work in the clinic is with diabetic patients. Lonergan realizes that providing medical advice in a community healthcare setting can be intimidating. He would like to mentor others so they too can participate in this rewarding experience. “You never know what medical condition you are going treat at the medical clinic,” said Dr. Lonergan. “Some physicians are understandably not comfortable treating conditions they may not have faced since medical school. Cornerstone provides the infrastructure and support to ease the fears many physicians have about volunteering.”

In his free time, Lonergan enjoys spending time with his wife and family, working out and playing tennis. A secret aspiration Dr. Lonergan has always had is to be a great pianist. While he is aware this dream is not likely to be fulfilled in this lifetime, he continues to enjoy playing the piano whenever he finds the time.

Dr. Lonergan is board certified in Family Practice and has been with NTSP since 2000. For more information about NTSP, visit www.ntsp.com.