By RITA FRANKENBERRY
By Rita Frankenberry
The Virginian-Pilot
After Dr. Michelle Paulsen finished her residency program last month , she had no problem fitting into a new Chesapeake medical practice.
After all, it’s operated by her family.
When Paulsen, 28, shows up for work, she sees Mom, Dad and her three sisters. They’re all part of Tidewater Family Medical Care, a medical practice her parents started more than 17 years ago in Virginia Beach. The family moved their office to Greenbrier earlier this month.
Her parents are Joye Piccioni, 49, who serves as office manager, and Dr. Frank Piccioni, 52, who was the practice’s only physician.
Paulsen’s sisters include Laura Dove, 26, business operations manager; Patti Piccioni, 21, who works as a medical assistant during summer breaks from James Madison University; and Alycia Piccioni, 18, a recent graduate of Kempsville High School who helps with billing and other duties.
This was never part of any grand design, Frank Piccioni said. It never occurred to him, or his wife, that his family medical practice, would someday become a true “family” medical practice.
It just evolved over time.
“It’s very nice,” Joye said. “You get to see your family every day.
“We always wanted to have a tight family unit,” she said. “And as they got older, things started unfolding and unfolding and unfolding.”
Michelle’s interest in medicine was evident early on.
Her father vividly recalls the day 23 years ago, when he was watching a PBS program on open-heart surgery. A procedure was being performed on TV, and he thought he was a lone spectator.
“I’m watching it, and my brother walks in and he blocks the view,” said Frank Piccioni, an osteopathic physician. “And I hear from Michelle, ‘Uncle Joe, will you please get out of the way?’ I knew then she was going to go into the health field.”
Just as clear was Laura’s lack of interest in a medical career. She was taking some finance courses at James Madison University when her father suggested she should throw in some health administration classes.
“And I did, and that was that,” Laura said. She has worked at the family practice for five years.
Patti also has spent several summers working there, as a medical assistant. After her college graduation next year, she plans to become a physician’s assistant and is applying to programs.
Youngest sister, Alycia , heads to George Mason University in the fall. Like Laura, she is interested in health-care administration and business.
“They were all raised in it,” Joye said, “so when they started taking an interest, it was easy for them to gel with us. That part of it didn’t have to be trained, it was instilled.
“Patients know we’re family, and they like that. You get to know the patients and their family, and they get to know us.”
Laura said many of the practice’s longtime patients refer to her and her sisters as daughters one through four. The faces of some of the patients can be seen in photos all over the office. Photos are pinned to bulletin boards and hung in frames , creating an environment that is more cozy than clinical.
Some of the photos, Laura said, feature second-generation patients. Even a few third-generation patients come to the office now.
Over the years, patients have grown accustomed to seeing the Piccionis’ girls around the office. Some of them may even remember seeing Laura play under her father’s desk as he chatted with them. Others may have spotted Patti and Alycia under that same wooden desk as toddlers. There, the girls would share picnic lunches, spreading their food out on the printer shelf.
“His office would pretty much be our playpen,” Patti said.
Patients have grown accustomed to seeing them outside the office as well.
The girls often went out with Piccioni when he made house calls , or served as team doctor to countless high school athletic teams. Often, they handed him bandages or whatever was needed.
Frank Piccioni remembers taking Patti along once to see a female patient with a bad ulcer on her foot. He was bandaging it, and waiting for his young protege to hand him some gauze when he heard a loud smack. He turned around to see Patti passed out on the floor.
Her initial uneasiness is hard to believe these days. Over the years, her father has taught her to draw blood, give vaccinations and triage patients.
“Sometimes he’ll look at me and say, ‘Are you OK ?’ ” Patti said. “And I just can’t get enough of it.”
“They’re all determined,” Frank Piccioni said of his daughters.
“I can never recall a time when I wanted to do anything else,” Michelle said. “He’s a great teacher.”
By moving the family medical practice to Chesapeake, the office has doubled in size to 4,000 square feet. The office is at 516 Innovation Drive, in the Oakbrooke Professional Center off Clearfield Avenue.
The arrival of Frank and Joye Piccioni’s first grandchild is also highly anticipated this summer.
Laura is due in September. She and her husband, Carlton, recently learned that it will be a girl.
The granddad-to-be has even set aside nursery space for her in the new office.
“It’s a custom home,” he said, “because it has to meet special needs.”
Call the practice at 495-0606.
Rita Frankenberry, 222-5102,
Originally published by BY RITA FRANKENBERRY.
(c) 2008 Virginian – Pilot. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
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