The life of a doctor was not always easy. His/her practice covered an extensive area of the county. From Sherbrooke, he/she had to cover the Eastern and Western Shores and also the farming settlements inland.(46) The doctor travelled by horse; either riding when he/she was younger and then switching to buggy or sleigh later on in life. It could take longer than a day for a return trip from a house call.
No appointments were necessary to see the doctor. It was on a first come first served basis. Most people however would summon the doctor for a house call instead of going to his office. Night or day he/she was expected to respond to a call for help.
In the obituary of Dr. Campbell, one can sense that people almost revered the doctors and that the medical profession was regarded with much respect, "noble men in that noble profession -- devotion to the high and solemn duties which that profession imposes on them."(47)
Since there was no dentist in the area, the doctor also practised crude dentistry, mainly extractions. They would pull teeth using no pain killers or anaesthesia. (48)
The methods of payment for the doctor's services varied. They were either paid in cash or by the barter system and also carried their patients on credit.(49) In a ledger of accounts for September 1887 to December 1893 of Doctor T. E. Chase in Hackett's Cove, N. S. an idea of the prices charged are given.
1887 Dressing child's hand $ 5.00
Setting fractured arm $ 5.00
Attending $10.00
1888 Consultation $1.00
Office Consultation $0.50
Sewing Abscess $0.50
1889 Extracting tooth $0.25
Dressing wound on head $1.50 - $2.50
Attending $6.00
Prices seem to vary not only from year to year but also from patient to patient. In 1887 a delivery of a baby cost $10.00 while in 1891 it only cost $6.00. In 1891 a visit cost from $1.50 to $2.50. It would appear in the case of Dr. Chase that the fees varied according to the means of his patient. It is not known if the doctors in Sherbrooke used a similar system.
The state of medicine in Sherbrooke was comparable in quality with at least the rest of rural Nova Scotia. In 1895 a few cases of typhoid were reported in the area in the Eastern Chronicle. It appeared that "A young American lad who was here for the summer's outing. His family doctor was sent down from the States to see him, but he was out of danger before he got here and he at once went home as he deemed the lad safe in Dr. Falconer's care".(50) Apparently Dr. Falconer's level of competence was equal to that of the American Doctor in this instance.
Doctors in Sherbrooke also had to deal with industrial accidents. With the gold mines nearby accidents were inevitable. Several articles in the Eastern Chronicle reported of people getting hurt because of mishandling of explosives and of people getting limbs caught in the crushers used in the mines.
The doctors in this area did not have a paid secretary or assistant. For pregnancies they did have the help of midwives. Most women would have the doctor deliver their baby but also wanted the comforting hand of a woman as well. In rare cases, if the doctor couldn't be found, the midwife delivered the baby alone. Some of the midwives in Sherbrooke were: Mrs. John Cameron, Mrs. George MacDonald and Ms. May McLean.(51) There were probably more midwives than this but their names were not remembered.
Most doctors would have had their own dispensary. Some like Doctor Falconer would go into partnership with a druggist, forming the firms of "Falconer & Jenner".(52) Doctor Campbell had his own drugstore at one time. It is logical that a doctor would need his own source to obtain medicine. Sherbrooke was far removed from Antigonish where people could get medical supplies. Even as late as the middle 1980's, the doctors in Sherbrooke had their own medical dispensary.