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\ The OcSs Dr. Merrilee Brown is one of a growing number of female doctors practicing medicine in Scugog Township. PART EIGHT Dr. Merrilee Brown Dr. Merrilee Brown works hard to balance her busy life as a wife... a mother... a teacher and her profession as a family physician The smell of decadent chocolate fills the air of Dr. Merrilee Brown’s kitchen as she expertly works at mix- ing and stirring her homemade brownie batter. “Sorry, I’m just baking for my son’s violin recital tonight,” she explains, not the slightest-bit frazzled. Even with a demanding schedule that naturally comes from being a full-time wife, mother, family physi- cian, medical teacher and an on-call emergency doctor, it is evident that Merrilee is completely in her element among all the chaos. “T can be a ‘normal mom’ for the most part,” she assures. “I’m able to pick up the kids from school at 3:30 and drive them to their activities.” And that often in- cludes violin, hockey and soccer practice for her 8-year- old son, Alastair, and piano lessons for her 6-year-old daughter, Sophie. “Fortunately, for the most part, I have control over my schedule.” But even on her days off, Merrilee is still Dr. Brown, which means she’s usually on route to check in on her patients or she’s preparing for her next teaching gig — she teaches medical teachers and trainees at both the University of Toronto and Queen’s University and regu- larly speaks at medical retreats. And because she’s constantly on call, her work day is never really done. “We like to call it ‘continuity of Please turn to page 36 FOCUS - SEPTEMBER 2010 37