Being a doctor in a small-town hospital offers unique challenges as well as rewards. For Dr. Austin Smith, emergency medical director for Intermountain Health Park City Hospital, the gulf between large medical centers, rural one-horse clinics and everything inbetween was immediately apparent when he transferred from Nashville to the mountain resort community.
At Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where Smith worked before, he said that every specialty and expert was available “at my fingertips.” The Vanderbilt emergency department had 75 beds—more than double the entire bed capacity of Intermountain Park City.
“Suddenly, I was responsible for everyone who came through the door,” Smith said. “It was all up to me.”…