Best Doctor of the Tri-Counties

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The Tribune

Elkin’s Baby doctor leads fast-paced lifestyle

By Deborah Baker Golden

The Tribune’s 1992 Best of the Tri-Counties

Elkin’s Dr. John Turrentine has given a lot of children in this area their first spankings, but that didn’t stop people from voting him the best doctor in the Tri-County Area.

Following in the footsteps of his father, who had practiced obstetrics and gynecology for 44 years, Turrentine arrived in Elkin in 1987, looking for an escape fro the hectic "big city" life of Atlanta, where he was a partner in OB/GYN at Piedmont Hospital. He wanted a quiet, small town atmosphere to rear his family, and Elkin seemed to be just what he was looking for.

Though the town may have been "quiet," Turrentine’s pace since 1987 has been "hectic." Being in a solo practice has provided little time for vacations. He performs 35 to 40 gynecological surgeries per month and averages 15 to 25 deliveries per month.

For one doctor, that’s a pretty heavy load, but Turrentine balances the demands on his time with the benefits a small town doctor receives.

"I see my patient’s more and get to know them," he says. Whether he is running an errand in town or at a community event, he usually sees someone he has delivered.

His congenial bedside manner can partially be attributed to the time he spent in a hospital.

"My life is divided into before the accident and after the accident," he says, speaking of the 19 months he spent in a hospital after a crippling accident as a teenager.

"They didn’t think I’d walk," he said. "It makes you appreciate your health and not take it for granted."

Turrentine says the accident also gave him an insight into pain.

"I don’t like people to hurt," he says. "Everybody has a different threshold for pain."

Turrentine is a graduate of North Fulton High School in Atlanta, Shorter College where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1973 and Georgia Tech in 1974. He attended medical school at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, Ga. and did his internship/residency at Georgia Baptist Medical Center in Atlanta from 1979-83.

When he entered medical school, he was torn between trauma surgery or obstetrics and gynecology. He selected the OB/GYN field after working with several doctors who were known experts in the field.

"I decided I enjoy working with women," he says. "Women are more interesting creatures than men."

Obstetrics is the most stressful part of his job, he says.

"It is such a relief to get a good baby," he says, nothing that most people think you are not supposed to have bad results with a yond, healthy patient. Sometimes, however, things happen that can not be helped by the most expert doctor.

"OB is living on the edge," he says.

His most humbling experience came when he lost his first patient, he says.

Losing a patient makes you realize your vulnerability.

Turrentine recently moved into a new office on Parkwood Drive after a fire gutted him original

During the time his office was being re-built, he practiced from Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital in Elkin.

"It was kind of like being unemployed," he says, "but it wasn’t like being unemployed because the people kept coming."

"Every day was an adventure," he says, about the time he spent at the hospital.

Though he lost everything in the office with the fire, he says he realized that you can’t "take it to the grave anyhow."

"I’ve got my family -- my wife and my kids," he says.

He says he had little notes all over his office.

"Everything was gone, but I was surprised at how much I did remember. Basically, patients can tell you what’s wrong 85 percent of the time if you’ll just listen," he says.

"There are a lot of good doctors here. I think there are a lot better doctors than me. The hospital has been good to us and the town and the doctors are real supportive."