Thirty-eight years of putting in stitches, setting broken bones and delivering babies will come to an end when Dr. Ben Martin officially retires from his medical practice this week.
Born in Omaha and living in Crawford until he was in first grade, Dr. Ben Martin and his family moved to Pender and since that time, he has been a resident of northeast Nebraska.
After graduating from Pender High School in 1976, Dr. Martin attended the University of Nebraska-Omaha for his undergraduate degree. He earned a medical degree from the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha and completed his residency in Sioux City, Iowa.
"I always knew I wanted to be a doctor. My Dad was a doctor and I had three brothers become doctors and one sister is a nurse," Dr. Martin said.
He came to Wayne and began working at the Benthack Clinic on July 21, 1986. At that time the facility included Dr. Walter Benthack, Dr. Robert Benthack and PA Gary West.
As a family practice physician, Dr. Martin has provided general care to patients throughout his career - from stitches to broken bones to "whatever walks in the door."
He said that one of the things he enjoyed most was delivering babies. In fact, he has delivered 1,180 babies.
"This has been the highlight of my career. At one point, I delivered 23 girls in a row," Dr. Martin said.
On the other side of the coin, Dr. Martin said it is always "tough when a patient dies and you have to tell family members."
Among the changes Dr. Martin has seen throughout his career is the computerization of the industry.
"Tasks that we had to do by hand years ago are now computerized. Also, we have better equipment that is faster than we had years ago and now have MRI machines to use," he said.
In addition, there are many different medications and treatments for use by physicians for their patients.
One of the aspects of being a physician that he will not miss is the insurance oversight of available medications to treat various conditions. This results in the need to explain to insurance companies the need to use the specific medications to treat specific conditions.
Dr. Martin said that in recent years, many of those earning medical degrees are going into specialized care
Dr. Martin's family includes his wife, Donna; their children, Ryan, Lindsey, Andy and Taylor and five grandchildren.
He said he and his wife plan to stay in Wayne, "at least for a while" as they have family in the area.
In retirement, Dr. Martin said he may possibly do some teaching or work with a group known as Locum Tenens, which provides for a physician to take the place of a doctor for a short amount of time. Volunteer work, especially in another country, is also among the possibilities Dr. Martin is exploring.
He also enjoys golfing and gardening and hopes to have more time for these activities.
Dr. Martin offered these words of wisdom to all - "don't settle for good enough, if you can do better."
"I would like to thank everybody who I have worked with and those who have trusted me with their care over the last 38 years," Dr. Martin said.
