Taylor, just a few days shy of his 26th birthday, was living the bachelor’s life. He was doing the best of all his friends. He was a single, straight guy in his mid-twenties with a good job and had just purchased his two-bedroom house in the suburbs last year. After graduating college with his degree in sports management, he found a job about an hour from his alma mater but still about a 6-hour drive from his hometown. Taylor had always been interested in sports, playing football and baseball through high school but leaving the sports alone for academics and partying in college.

Even though he had been out of the house since he was barely 18 and was even further away from them now, he was still close to his family. His mother, being a nurse since before he was born, always nagged him about his health, making sure he was well and asking him if he goes for his regular checkups. Despite a few minor injuries while playing sports during high school, Taylor remained healthy. The last time he had even thought about seeing a doctor was for his college physical with his pediatrician, whom he had seen since he was 5. Taylor figured that he would make an appointment to see a primary care doctor in the area to appease his mother’s concerns, and it would be helpful just in case he did get sick at some point.

One Wednesday evening after work, Taylor sat on his couch after dinner and called his mom. As always, during the introductory phase of their conversation, she again asked if he was doing well and when was the last time he had a checkup. He told her he was “going to find a new doctor in the area and make an appointment with them.” After their conversation, Taylor opens his laptop and googles: “primary care near me.” There were a few results close to Taylor, but many more were in the city, which Taylor hated driving downtown. The streets were always crowded, and there was never anywhere to park. He always had to park 15 minutes walking distance from anywhere he needed to go.

Taylor found a result that was only about four blocks from his house. “Smith Internal Medicine” it read. He clicked on the link, which led him to the website. It was a simple website. Taylor clicked on the “About Us” title, leading him to “Meet the Staff.” There he found Dr. Greg Smith’s picture and bio. Dr. Smith’s picture showed him to be a casually dressed, average build guy in his early fifties, not super muscular but not super skinny either. His bio told of his undergraduate studies at the same college Taylor attended before attending medical school and residency at Johns Hopkins University. He started his career in a large clinic for a few years before moving to his hometown and establishing a small clinic. After googling Dr. Smith’s name and finding several stellar reviews, including from patients at his former clinic several years ago, Taylor put the office number in his phone for him to call tomorrow to make an appointment.