July 19, 2024
Dr. Roche works as a family physician in Davidson and completed the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Leading Physician Well-being Certificate program in 2023.
We spotlight NCAFP members who make unique impacts on their patients and communities. If you’re providing a unique service, contact us so we can consider spotlighting you as well!
Dr. Shannon Roche has practiced in Davidson since she graduated from the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School residency in 2019. But her route to the small town near Charlotte began while she was a college student, Dr. Roche says: “I knew early on that I wanted to be a doctor. Then when I found osteopathic medicine, I realized how much cooler it would be to treat people in a more holistic way. I’d always wanted to do Family Medicine, and then I knew I wanted to be a DO.”
During and after her medical training in Massachusetts, Dr. Roche practiced at an underserved urban clinic. “It was a free clinic,” she says, “which was really cool. And I still got to practice osteopathic manipulation there!” And when she had the chance to move to North Carolina, Dr. Roche knew patients here would also appreciate her work. “It made sense: we really, really like the area. I really, really like my patients. It’s been a great place to us and a good fit for me.”
In her role as a family physician at Davidson Family Medicine, Dr. Roche treats patients of all ages with an eye for their entire lifestyle “My youngest patients are newborns,” she says, “and my oldest patient will turn 107 next month. We see everybody, and I get to do a lot of preventive lifestyle medicine. Typically, my patients need more chronic disease management, but they are also pretty well motivated to make their own lifestyle changes.”
She adds that many of her patients are also motivated to stick with her as their physician. “I’m still seeing one of the very first patients I saw as an attending,” Dr. Roche says. “She has followed me to all the different places I’ve worked around here, so I get to continue seeing her. I’ve had several patients for years and years.” This commitment to her patients as people over time is something Dr. Roche values in Family Medicine: “After everything I’ve done through training, residency, and jobs, it’s such an honor to take care of an entire family and see them through the great things and the not-so-great things in their lives. This is definitely what I was meant to do.”
Dr. Roche has also received a bit of help in her work, not only from her workplace but also from the AAFP. “I have a really health work-life balance here,” she says. “I have a lot of time with patients but also time for all my relationships. I really love it.” Enjoying her own well-being as a family physician meant that Dr. Roche wanted to learn to better equip other physicians for that same reward through the AAFP Leading Physician Well-being program in 2023. “That was really wonderful,” she says, “and I developed a lot of skills through that program.”
She adds that the NCAFP programs closer to home have also rewarded her: “I love being a member, since the opportunities are great. And I won’t miss another NCAFP winter meeting after going last December. That was awesome!”