I was born in Vermont in 1952 and attended Canaan, VT schools, Graduating in 1970. My family were farmers milking cows and often selling produce at the roadside. I started hunting and fishing at a young age and played sports, eventually becoming captain on the soccer team.
After graduation I went to Castleton State College for 1 year and transferred to Johnson State College for 1 semester when I was drafted in to the military. I joined the Vermont National Guard as a medic and became a helicopter rescue medic and was promoted to E5 and expert medic. I attended the University of Vermont as a microbiology and biochemistry major graduating in 1976. I continued doing research at UVM until I completed my military service in October 1978 and was granted an honorable discharge. During that time, I co-author several papers in neurology and infectious disease.
I spent a winter in Colorado at Snowmass working and skiing, then returned to New England to work for the summer. I began working at the lab at Yale University doing research and was later accepted into the graduate school of medicine starting my master’s degree in biomedical science. I completed my master’s at Northeastern University in Boston while working in the immunology lab at the Boston VA. In 1984 I moved to Kansas City, MO attending medical school at the University of Health Science in Kansas City, MO from 1984-1988, earning a degree in Osteopathic Medicine. I began a residency in pediatric medicine at Children’s Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, MO from 1988-1991. I was accepted into the Allergy/Immunology program at Children’s Mercy that was a co-op program with the University of Kansas for adult and pediatric medicine which included rheumatology and pulmonology. While attending my fellowship I began working emergency rooms in rural hospitals. I completed the fellowship in 1993 and was board certified. This is a unique co-board certification for both adult medicine as well as pediatric medicine.
I began my career as the allergist/immunologist for Blue Cross /Blue Shield in the greater KC metro area. I wanted to return to Vermont and improve medical care there, my mother and family still resided there, but after marriage to an Iowan and 4 children it was not meant to be. We did prefer a more rural life style. After 2 years we relocated to Branson, MO and began an individual practice that included being the director of pulmonology at the local hospital until 1998. There I started to do research again to help improve patient care and acquire advanced information coming out of research settings. We decided moved to Jefferson City in 1998 and joined Jefferson City Medical Group for several years. In 2003, I started my private practice in Jefferson City, MO and during that time I joined PSN, Premier Specialty Network. It is a network of doctors that are dedicated to bringing specialists to rural hospitals, making it easier for many to get the care they need. I have always enjoyed the rural aspect of medicine. Because of the inability to get services in the small town I grew up in. My father died at 58 due to hypertension and should not have, he did not have access to the proper specialized care he needed in our town of 500 people. He did travel many miles to another town but the damage could not be reversed. Also during this time my 4 children have multiplied into 4 grandchildren and 11 horses, 3 dogs, 5 cats and we can’t forget the gecko that is now 20 years old.
In 2016 I practiced at Mahaska Health in Oskaloosa, IA through 2018. I decided to rejoin PSN to continue service to local hospitals working in IA and MO. In 2019 I traveled to work in Kentucky for a year at a small hospital in the southern part of the state which did not survive Covid and is now a nursing home. I returned to the University of Missouri, Columbia, MO to incorporate teaching, research and patient care into my practice which I retired from in August 2025. I am back working with PSN hoping to bring my years of experience to the county hospital networks and finish my career where I started, helping those get medical care at the local county care centers and make a difference.