Dr. William Adkins works in the Obstetrics and Gynecology department of Lakeview Medical Center. Adkins did his internship at the Naval National Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and completed his Residency at the Naval Regional Medical Center in Portsmouth. He retired from the Unites States Medical Corps Reserve last June.

Q: What made you want to get into medicine?

A: In college I majored in psychology because my plan was to get into psychiatry. When I got into medical school, I found out I enjoyed other aspects of medicine more.

Q: What made you go into the Navy?

A: I had a scholarship. They paid for medical school for me.

Q: Are there differences between practicing medicine for civilians versus servicemen?

A: There are differences. I think you can practice probably as good if not better medicine in the military, because at that point you don’t have as much worry about cost restrictions for the individual patient. In the outside, you have to worry about ‘Can the patient afford the medications?’ or ‘Can they take off time to get a procedure done?’ On the military side, you don’t have to worry about that. You know they will have their care provided for. You can really do what’s best for the patient.

Q: Adkins served on the teaching staff for both the Portsmouth Naval Hospital and Clinical Assistant Professor at Medical College of Virginia. How does teaching medicine coincide with your work at Lakeside?

A: It’s a benefit for me, because when you’re teaching and you’ve got the residents that are under you, they keep you on your toes. You’ve got to keep up with them, because they’re reading the latest things, the latest research and technologies. I think it keeps my practice at the higher level, because I have to keep up with the latest developments with them.