Returning from Sakhalin, Chekhov decided to move from Moscow to the countryside. In the spring of 1892, Anton Pavlovich acquired the Melikhovo estate in the Serpukhov district of the Moscow province, where he settled with his family. It was during the years of his residence in Melikhovo that Chekhov most of all worked as a practicing doctor. At the same time, the Melikhovo period is considered one of the most fruitful in the fate of Chekhov as a writer. From the first days of owning the estate, Anton Pavlovich tried to establish good relations with local peasants and at least somehow facilitate the existence of these people, crushed by a hard life. The writer donated land to the Melikhovo community for pastures, allowed peasants to mow grass in the forest, built a fire shed and dug a pond at his own expense. With Chekhov’s help, a telegraph began to operate at the nearest railway station Lopasnya and a post office appeared.

‘I live peacefully with the peasants… the main thing that arranged our good relations is medicine, ” wrote Chekhov two months after the relocation. At that time, there was only one hospital in the Serpukhov district, serving 143 villages. Therefore, the inhabitants of many of them were drawn to Melikhovo. Chekhov did not take money from anyone, each patient received medicine. Anton Pavlovich’s medical practice won him the gratitude and respect of the peasants, and literature, thanks to the writer’s constant communication with them, was enriched with such works by Chekhov as “My Life”, “Peasants” and " In the Ravine ‘.

Maria Pavlovna assisted Chekhov as a doctor, pharmacist of Melikhovo pharmacy, operating room and nurse. It was her memoirs that illuminated this period in the writer’s life in detail. Thanks to Maria Pavlovna, today it is known about Chekhov’s visits to seriously ill patients in distant villages, continuous free receptions, free treatment. In fact, Melikhovo has become an outpatient hospital for a significant number of residents of the Serpukhov district.

Medicine took a lot of time and effort to the detriment of Anton Pavlovich’s literary activity. But no one has ever heard complaints or regrets from him. Being engaged in medical practice in 1892-1893 Chekhov carried out a huge socially significant work. During this period, there was a danger of the spread of cholera throughout the Moscow province. The writer immediately took an active part in the affairs of the sanitary commission of the zemstvo council of the Serpukhov district. Melikhovo has become a center for combating the spread of the disease, uniting 25 villages, a local monastery and 4 factories. The measures taken by Chekhov twice helped to prevent an epidemic in this area. Anton Pavlovich performed his duties as a doctor in an exemplary manner.