GP’s on the case

By Dion Teasdale
FOR the past 30 years a Healesville doctor has watched over the health and wellbeing of five generations of one family.
Dr Elroy Schroeder, from the Yarra Valley Clinic, has been overseeing the medical needs of the Mits family and their descendants since meeting Frank Mits, the patriarch of the family, in the early 1970s.
“My parents Katlin and Frank Mits came to Australia from Germany in 1953 and moved our family to Healesville in 1961,” the Mits’ daughter Gisela Drob said.
“My father came to see Dr Schroeder in the early 1970s and they got along very well because they both spoke German.”
Mrs Drob said the relationship that developed between her father and Dr Schroeder was the beginning of a long family association. “My husband and I came to see Dr Schroeder, and Dr Schroeder became our children’s doctor, and then the doctor for our grandchildren, and now our great-grandchildren,” Mrs Drob said.
Dr Schroeder, who left his native South Africa and came to live in Healesville 34 years ago, said he was pleased to have been able to serve the members of the Mits, Drob, Kane and Cranston family.
“They are a very kind, pleasant and intelligent people who have kept me very busy over the years,” he said.
“I have been able to engage in philosophical discussions with them and talk about things other than just sickness.”
Over the years, and generations, Dr Schroeder has seen the family go through the full cycle of life.
“There have been births, deaths, marriages and illnesses, and through that I have found a friendship and a rapport with this family,” he said.
The Mits family is one of three local families DrSchroeder has associated with over five generations. “I’ve been a doctor for the Smith and Schmolling families in Healesville over five generations as well,” he said.
Mrs Drob’s daughter, Pauline Kane, who lives in Wangaratta, said she travels back to Healesville especially to see Dr Schroeder.
“It’s a great comfort knowing that he knows all about our family and our health needs,” she said.
“He has a photographic memory and he knows what family members have been through and he is always looking for symptoms to show up on us.
Dr Schroeder said he hoped the bond he has with the Mits family would entice young doctors to the role of general practitioner.
“We are having trouble attracting doctors into general practice and I think this case shows what some of the real benefits are,” he said.
“We need young doctors to join the ranks as GPs and hopefully though my experience they can see how wonderful it can be treating families and being part of a local community over time.”