Hilsman says goodbye to family medicine
Dr. Thomas Hilsman is retiring from medicine after 46 years
By Gypsy Crow
ALBANY — Dr. Thomas Hilsman, the fifth-generation practitioner in a family of physicians in Albany, is hanging up his stethoscope and retiring after 46 years of service to his patients. Hilsman practiced family medicine throughout his career and developed a long-lasting relationship with his patients in Albany for more than 30 years.
Hilsman was born and raised in Albany. He graduated Albany High School in 1964, earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia, and he earned a medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia in 1972. Hilsman served in the United States Air Force, where he completed his family medicine residency at Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas. Hilsman retired from the Air Force in 1981 as a lieutenant colonel in the Medical Corps.
Asked about highlights of his career, Hilsman joked that it is his retirement.
“I’ve enjoyed my career,” he said. “I don’t regret that I went into medicine. I’ve got lots and lots of hobbies, so I’m not a person who sits down and does nothing.”
Hilsman said that what he enjoyed most during his career as a physician was taking care of families. He said, “If you know the family dynamics and the families themselves, it’s much easier to take care of them.”
Early in his career, Hilsman worked in an emergency room for five years, and many of his patients came with him to his private practice afterward. He has cared for patients of all ages from 2-year-olds to geriatrics.
The first generation of physicians in his family came to Lee County in what was then known as Palmyra in 1841, and the rest of his family moved to Albany when it was founded. Hilsman said that all he’s ever wanted to do was be a physician.
The ultimate reason for his retirement, he said, is the direction medicine is taking.
“The way medicine’s going now, I worked in a hospital for six years, the last six years of my life, and they kept trying to force you to see more and more patients and spend less and less time with them (patients), and that turns a lot of doctors off,” Hilsman said. “You don’t treat your patients like a dollar bill. If they want to talk about something, to solve something, it takes time. But right now, the hospital is interested in money. It’s all about money, not about patient care.
“I think that would convince a lot of people. There’s actually a son-in-law of mine up in Marietta. He met a physician up there who retired at age 51 because a hospital was forcing him to see more and more patients. It was not what we feel is right. You’ve got to practice good medicine; you’ve got to listen to the patient. You don’t need to advertise yourself. Your patients will advertise you if they think you’re doing right, and that’s always been my philosophy.”
Now that Hilsman is no longer working for the hospital or as a full-time physician, he said he plans to work with his son-in-law, who works in pain control medicine part-time. Hilsman will be managing the physicians assistants and nurse practitioners to ensure the quality of care.
Other than the new part-time work, Hilsman said he will get to focus more on his hobbies. He said, “I have a farm and work out there every weekend. I like horticulture.
“My father was a physician. His specialty, as far as a hobby was concerned, was hybridizing camellias. He was an expert in genetics, so he developed a number of different named varieties back when I was growing up in the ’50s and the ’60s when we lived in Albany. I told him I never wanted to have another plant in my life after all that work, and I told him I was going to have a concrete yard. But things changed with time.”
Hilsman may have tried to swear off plants, but his lawn is beautifully manicured with flowers and a landscaped pebble driveway. The camellias in his yard, he said, were purchased in 1988 when he lived in South Carolina.
After his many years of service to the medical community in Albany as well as to his country, Hilsman said he will enjoy retirement with his family, his pets, his hobbies and his camellias.
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