Patients walking into Dr. Douglas Langrock’s examination room in the Whidbey Community Physicians office on Cabot Drive may have the urge to don the maize and blue, look for their seats somewhere near the 50-yard line at the stadium in Ann Arbor, and sing a chorus of “Hail to the Victors.”
A graduate of the University of Michigan, Langrock has spent the past 18 years practicing family medicine in Oak Harbor. One way that it has paid off is his frequent high finishes in the “Best of Whidbey” contest.
“I did my undergraduate studies along with the fraternity and the glee club thing at the U of M,” he said. “I did my medical studies at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.”
After graduating from Baylor, he said he returned to the Pacific Northwest for his residency at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland and then he came to work in Oak Harbor.
“About my office. It started when I put up a few U of M items on the walls and then my nurse, Shari May, really got things going,” Langrock said. “A few years ago, Michigan played Nebraska in the Alamo Bowl. My receptionist, Denice, is a big Nebraska fan. It was crazy around here for a little while.”
Langrock said unfortunately Nebraska won the game and he was forced to treat his receptionist and his nurse to lunch.
Married for almost 10 years, Langrock has three children. In addition to practicing medicine, the doctor said he has also been involved in community theater.
“I did some acting with the Whidbey Island Playhouse,” Langrock said. “My last show was in 2005 and I’ve sort of cut things back because of my family getting older.”
He said one of his daughters auditioned for a role at the playhouse and all of his children will attend a summer camp for actors on Lopez Island this year.
“My acting career has sort of taken a back seat to their acting careers,” he said with a smile.
Langrock said he intends to continue practicing medicine on Whidbey Island and has no plans for moving.
“I tell people I’ve had two jobs in my life, a paper route and this one,” he said. “That’s not entirely true, I did make a little bit of money during my residency.”
Langrock said his goal in life was to have one job and the one he has is fun and satisfying.
“A few weeks ago, I had a patient come in who said his daughter has a son who is planning on attending the University of Michigan,” Langrock said. “I delivered the boy back in 1990. You don’t get that type of experience unless you’re in one place for a long time.”
One of the positive aspects of being a physician in Oak Harbor is having the opportunity to develop relationships with other doctors.
“When I first moved here some of the senior physicians on staff, those ‘old guard’ family doctors, were kind of my mentors,” Langrock said.
Although he’s committed to staying in Oak Harbor, Langrock said more physicians are needed to serve the area.
“We’re looking for more physicians because some doctors are retiring and with all the older folks on the island, we want to get some new, good doctors to begin practicing here,” he said. “Doctors who are hard working and also those who want to participate in and be a part of the community.”
Langrock cited the work of Dr. Jerald Sanders, who does physicals at the high school every June, as an example of being involved in the community.
“That’s complimentary on his part and both of us have been participating in the cancer walk every year that I’ve been here,” he said. “We try to get up in the top five or 10 teams in the event.”
Langrock is a doctor committed to serving the people of Whidbey Island and a shining example of graduate of the University of Michigan. A true Wolverine in every sense of the word.
