Exchanging a Stethoscope for a Hammer

Exchanging a Stethoscope for a Hammer

Practicing physician completes Residential Building Construction program

| By: Daley-Hinkens, Carmelyn M

 

Chet Price had decades of experience as a family practice physician when he decided to make a change. A big change. He enrolled at Fox Valley Technical College so he could follow another one of his passions: construction.

Chet took a sabbatical from his medical practice to start at the college’s Residential Building Construction program at the S.J. Spanbauer Aviation & Industrial Center in Oshkosh. For 12 months, Chet and his classmates built a house from the ground up. It was a great learning experience for Chet, who fielded many questions from his younger classmates.

“It usually comes down to people are like, ‘But you make a lot more money as a doctor, why would you choose to do construction?’

“And it’s like, ‘Well, you’ve got to do what you enjoy—and I do enjoy being a physician, too, always have—but I knew I would enjoy this also.”

Chet enjoyed his time at Fox Valley Tech so much, he has continued on at the college as a construction intern. Three days a week, he practices medicine in Wisconsin Rapids. The other two days you’ll find him amongst the latest class of students, helping them also chase their love of construction.

Chet recently shared his journey from the doctor’s office to the FVTC construction site with Spectrum News 1.

Read more here >> Wisconsin Physician Finds Prescription for Happiness Building Houses