SIMPLE GIFTS

About the Book

Against the advice of experienced doctors and mentors, Dr. Harold Jenkins returned to his rural Virginia hometown to hang out his shingle as a sole practitioner in family medicine. Dr. Jenkins loved his hometown - its pace, its setting near the mountains, and the unique individuals who make up its people. Additionally, the much vaunted local family doctor was retiring. With his wife’s encouragement, Dr. Jenkins defied convention and chose the path “less travelled by,” finding many gifts along the way. The year was 1985. With a keen appreciation for everyday life molded by history and place, Dr. Jenkins journaled throughout his medical career. Many of the experiences recounted in these memoirs occurred during his time as a family physician in Madison County, Virginia.

About the Author

Harold S. Jenkins (1947- 2014) was raised as a needed farm hand on his father’s fruit orchard at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Etlan, Madison County, Virginia.

After graduating from UVa Medical School in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1974, Dr. Jenkins earned fellowships in emergency medicine and family practice. Thereafter he served as an emergency physician in Frederick, Maryland.

In 1985, Dr. Jenkins, wife Doreen and their four children moved to Madison County, Virginia. During the ten years he administered medicine to the patients in his family practice, his life was reciprocally enriched. He recounted some of his experiences in Simple Gifts, published posthumously.

Dr. Jenkins concluded his medical career as an emergency room physician at Rockingham Memorial Hospital in Harrisonburg, Virginia, also serving as president of the medical staff and chief of staff for the hospital and becoming a diplomat of the American College of Physician Executives.