Drs. Shana Jarmer and Lacie Gregory were already plenty busy before one of Wellington's two family medicine clinics closed last year.

Almost overnight, the Sumner County Family Care Center where they work absorbed 5,000 new patients."It was really challenging last summer," Gregory said. "We were seeing new patients every day."

So much for the image of a sleepy small-town medical practice. Then again, Wellington (population 7,000) isn't really a small town by Kansas standards; the clinic serves many of Sumner County's 16,000 other residents as well. Those patient numbers mean Jarmer and Gregory are called on to provide just the sort of full spectrum medical care they trained for at the KU School of Medicine-Wichita.

"It's just the variety," Jarmer said of what she likes about her practice. "I can go from examining a 3-day-old baby I've just delivered to a 90-year patient whose family is dealing with her dementia. It's a vast spectrum of things keep the days exciting."

Jarmer and Gregory followed similar routes to Wellington. Jarmer is from Phillipsburg, Kansas (pop. 2,520) in Phillips County; Gregory is from Agra, a town of 267 in the same western Kansas county.

"This (Wellington) is big city to me," Gregory said with a smile.

The two knew each other growing up through 4-H and other activities.  Jarmer went on to earn a biology degree and play volleyball at Newman University; Gregory had the same major, but played basketball for Fort Hays State University. Both started medical school on KU's Kansas City campus, and finished in Wichita, where they did their family medicine residencies.

The similarities don't stop there: both are married with three children, a consideration in settling in Wellington.  "I just like small town living as far as school and activities for the kids," Jarmer said.

Gregory said that when moved to Wellington, she was mainly known as "that new doctor." But today she lives in a neighborhood with other young families. "To them, I'm Lacie."

The physicians in the Family Care Center work four days a week, a schedule that especially appeals to those with young families.

"You work really hard those four days," Jarmer said. Jarmer usually starts and sometimes ends her days at the Sumner Regional Medical Center, checking on any hospitalized patients, and sees patients at the clinic the rest of the day.

This August, as usual, the clinic tried to free up as much space for school physicals as possible. "Human nature being what it is, everybody waits to the last minute," Jarmer said.

These exams might seem like a routine medical chore, but last year Jarmer discovered a life-threatening anomaly in the heartbeat of a female student who'd mentioned experiencing light-headedness. The student was held out of sports and underwent surgery to correct the problem.

Jarmer came to Sumner County in 2007, attracted in part by the rural residency rotation she'd done there. Today she looks forward to working with students and residents who travel to Sumner County for the same experience. Jarmer said the interaction serves as a sort of refresher course for her, too.

"It makes us think about why we do the things we do, and what is the science behind this?" she said.

To deal with the influx of new patients, the clinic added three mid-level care providers and also limited its practice to Sumner County residents. The clinic's six physicians worked through lunch, stayed late, and did whatever else was necessary.

"Our goal is to get everybody seen," Gregory said.  So far, they've been unable to recruit another physician.

Gregory said she always wanted to practice in a small-town setting, although she did consider obstetrics as a specialty. She delivers about 50 to 60 babies a year, one of her favorite parts of her work.

"I like seeing families," she said. "It makes it easier to understand people when you see them in that context."

Jarmer, who's been practicing three years longer than Gregory, has seen even greater changes in what's required of physicians. She estimates that the amount of time she spends on paperwork and other "hoops" has doubled during his seven years of practice.

Nevertheless, she hasn't lost sight of the fact that's she filling a big need in Wellington and Sumner County.

"It's still rewarding to me," Jarmer said.  "I don't know what else I'd do."