Dr. Justin Plaum is a newer addition to the Derry Medical Services (DMS) family. He joined the healthcare system last summer and has become yet another great resource offered by DMS to our patients.
“Before I started at Derry Medical Services, I was completing my medical training in Reading, Pennsylvania. As far as training I’m a Family Medicine Physician, which means that I have training in everything from infants to geriatrics, men and women, all manners of health and all walks of life,” said Dr. Plaum.
Dr. Plaum said the best part of his job is the relationship-building aspect. “I get to see people when they’re infants — just two days old and I have the potential to work with them for years on end. For instance, in my medical residency I got to care for four generations of a multi-generational family. I knew so much about them because of that opportunity,” noted Dr. Plaum.
Dr. Plaum is incredibly passionate about Family Medicine because it allows him to experience all kinds of issues and treatments for his patients. He said, “Family Medicine falls under the jack-of-all-trades category. It’s a very unique form of medicine. Very few specialties get to see the depth and breadth of issues that we do in Primary Care. You’re involved in nearly every aspect of health and life.”
If you had asked Dr. Plaum a few years ago what area he planned to specialize in, he may have said something in the Neurology field. “I have to say along the way I thought I was going to go into a lot of different specialties like Neurology and Neuropsychiatry. I actually completed 3 years of Clinical Research with a Neurosurgery group before medical school, but by keeping my eyes and ears open I realized my real true love was Family Medicine,” Dr. Plaum reflected.
Many of Dr. Plaum’s reasons for choosing Derry Medical Services had to do with New Hampshire itself, while others came down to the warm welcome he received from our staff. He said, “My wife and I decided that we wanted to start a new chapter and a new adventure. We started looking as far as New Hampshire and North Carolina, but it was meeting with the staff at DMS and seeing the facilities that made us realize the decision to come here was a no-brainer.”
Dr. Plaum said that if he could describe DMS in one word it would be friendly. He said DMS is, “Very, very friendly and supportive! Even though we’re expanding it still feels like the family neighborhood doctor’s office. I have colleagues that I can pull aside to ask questions of any time and the staff is well trained. In fact as busy as we are sometimes, we try to carve out some fun time as well. We’ve had a number of Friday evenings after the office is closed where we just stay just chew the fat a bit.”
Outside of work Dr. Plaum is a self-proclaimed nerd and music enthusiast. “I collect vinyl records. I have about 500 of those and that collection is still growing. I’ve played guitar for about 18 years now, so music is a big thing,” Dr. Plaum laughed.
In addition to his love of music, Dr. Plaum likes to get outdoors and model a healthy lifestyle for himself and his patients. He said, “I’m trying to practice what I preach — trying to stay fit as much as possible. The healthy New Hampshire lifestyle, you know? One of the things that drew us to New Hampshire was the lore of the outdoors!”
Dr. Plaum said that he really values the quality of care that he is able to provide at DMS and hopes to keep that going. “My hope for the future of Derry is that we can still provide the quality and personal care while expanding to meet the needs of the area. I want to provide quality care for people in the area for years to come. I’m happy to be working with Derry Medical and I look forward to everything that comes our way,” said Dr. Plaum.
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Dr. Plaum is currently accepting new patients. Would you like to be one of them? Just click below to request an appointment.
