First, a Little Bit About Dr. Wilde I grew up in rural Worland, Wyoming, the oldest of seven children. My wife and I met at the University of Wyoming and now have five children ranging in age from two to 16. Although most of my free time is spent engaging with my family and their interests, my personal interests include reading, playing the piano, and getting outdoors whenever possible. The Journey to Becoming a Physician I earned a B.S. in Health Sciences at the University of Wyoming. I attended medical school at Midwestern University – Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine in Glendale, AZ. I stayed an extra year as a pre-doctoral teaching fellow of osteopathic manipulative medicine and then completed my residency with Southern Illinois University in Quincy, IL. Choosing Family Medicine How/when did you choose family medicine as your specialty? What are some of the aspects of family medicine that drew you to it? My father, a chiropractor, inspired my earliest interests in a career in medicine. I saw the positive impacts he had on his patients’ health and the way his patients appreciated him. This fascinated me. I noted, however, the limitations of a chiropractor’s scope of care and determined that I wanted to do so much more. I concluded that family medicine gave me the fullest potential to meet the wideranging needs of my patients. I appreciate that I am prepared to care for my patients medically, surgically, mentally and emotionally, in a wide variety of settings. Did you consider another specialty? If so, what made you ultimately choose family medicine? When I began medical school, I felt certain family medicine was for me. But when I started into my thirdyear clerkships, I found myself enjoying each specialty immensely. For a few months, my interests shifted first to ophthalmology and then to physical medicine and rehabilitation. Ultimately, the inherent variety of family medicine and the potential of long-term physician-patient relationships brought me back to family medicine. The Move to Southern Utah Prior to coming to Southern Utah, I practiced medicine in my childhood hometown in Wyoming, providing both inpatient and outpatient care, working in the emergency room, and sidelining sporting events. On arriving there, I was surprised by how quickly my family and I were embraced by the community and integrated into several events and service opportunities. The factor that finally persuaded me to leave my rural practice was the opportunity to teach future physicians at Rocky Vista University (RVU) in Ivins, UT. Teaching had long been a passion of mine, first recognized during my pre-doctoral teaching fellowship, and my position at RVU opened to me the door of academic medicine. In addition to my teaching and leadership roles at RVU, I have continued to care for patients at the Southern Utah Veterans Home, the Doctors Volunteer Clinic, and Intermountain InstaCares in the St. George area. Member Spotlight Ben Wilde, DO, FAAFP Family Disc Golf Teaching OMT 2020-21 UtahAFP.org | 14
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy ODQxMjUw