A Bit About Dr. Jones
I am married with four great kids: two boys, two girls, aged from 9 to 20. We live in Holladay, but I grew up in Farmington. My wife and I were friends in high school at Davis High, but didn’t date until college at Utah State. We got married and had our first child shortly before moving to Wisconsin to attend the Medical College of Wisconsin. We then returned to Utah in 2009 for residency at the University of Utah. Since graduating from residency in 2012, I have been a faculty member at the University of Utah. My clinical practice is at the Neurobehavior HOME Program, which is exclusively for individuals with developmental disabilities. My wife, Becki, also works there as our speech pathologist. The other half of my professional time is spent teaching medical students and residents.
I served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ukraine and had the privilege of working with Ukrainian refugees in Poland shortly after the war started in 2022.
I am fanatical about the Minnesota Twins and baseball in general. I enjoy playing fantasy baseball every year and threw out the first pitch at a Twins game last year! I also enjoy watching movies, debating the best bands that originated in Manchester in the 1980s, reading and writing. I have written three books and currently write a medical satire newsletter every week at hypocriticoath.substack.com.
The Journey to Becoming a Physician
I decided to become a physician while in high school. My mother had breast cancer and saw many different physicians throughout the course of her treatment. I could tell a distinct difference in her upon coming home from her doctor’s visits, depending on how well the doctors treated her — like a person and not a disease. This experience inspired me and underscored what I wanted to be like in my profession. I attended Utah State University, where I graduated with a degree in liberal arts and sciences in 2005. I knew I was going into medicine, so wanted to enjoy classes in a variety of subjects. I completed medical school in 2009 from the Medical College of Wisconsin. I then completed my Family Medicine Residency at the University of Utah in 2012.
Choosing Family Medicine
I decided in my third year of med school that family medicine (FM) was the place for me. The doctors and residents I met in FM simply felt like my kind of people. I felt as though I had found my like-minded tribe. Primary care also fit my preconceived notions of what a doctor is.
Specialties
I nearly became a cardiothoracic surgeon. I was fascinated by the surgeries and what can be done with the human body. It greatly excited me intellectually, but I quickly realized that they were not the type of people who fit me. Many of the negative stereotypes of a high-powered surgeon were on full display where I trained, and that was enough to drive me to my true home of FM!
Current Practice
I ended up falling into my current clinical role coming out of residency. There was an opportunity, I loved academics, and I absolutely loved the structure of the clinic. We are our own Medicaid HMO, and as such, we act as both the care provider and the payer. The clinic has psychiatrists, therapists, case managers and many more disciplines. We also have hour-long appointments, which is huge! The practice removes many of the biggest frustrations with medicine, and I don’t see myself practicing anywhere else. I came to love the population I serve and now consider them “my people.”
Working with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) is extremely rewarding and very demanding. It is often very difficult from an intellectual and emotional standpoint, but so many in this population are so loving, giving and wise. Like so many experiences with patient care, sometimes there isn’t anything that can be done about their physical or mental condition, but we can walk with them in their journey. That’s the best and worst part of FM.
Academic Medicine
Academic medicine is awesome! Creating new knowledge through research, passing along existing knowledge to students, staying up on brand-new research findings, and caring for patients in a setting unlike any other — it keeps me on my toes and helps me fill my professional needs and desires. There are fantastic students and residents coming up who will do a great job caring for me when I’m old.
Meeting the Demand for Family Physicians
I get frustrated every time I hear about a new medical school opening. Given multiple barriers, it is really hard to open new residencies. We now have more graduating students than residency slots in the U.S., which is ridiculous. As long as schools can turn a profit by churning out students and we fail to create more GME training opportunities, we’re doing the students and our society a great disservice.
In order to draw more students to FM and primary care, we need to continue to work on the frustrations inherent in the system, such as reimbursement, prior authorizations, legislators dictating how we practice medicine, etc. It’s an uphill battle, but it’s definitely worth it!
Influences of Becoming a Published Author
I’ve published three books: “Fallible: A Memoir of a Young Physician’s Struggle with Mental Illness;” “HOSPITAL! A Medical Satire of Unhealthy Proportions;” and “When All Hope Seems Lost: A Gospel Perspective on Mental Illness in Youth.” Obviously, my profession has dictated a lot of the topics about which I write, but it has also led me to find greater satisfaction for and appreciation of my patients and chosen career. I think about things differently and from different perspectives. I explore the emotional and intangible aspects of caring for people in medicine more.
And writing satire is just a lot of fun.
You can get my books and subscribe to the Hypocritic Oath weekly newsletter at hypocriticoath.substack.com.
Any Last Thoughts
I love doing different things that interest me, but it can be intimidating (writing, stand-up comedy, juggling while standing on your head). I think a lot of us hold back on trying such things. I would encourage you to try new things and embrace new opportunities!
