ABOUT

A physican’s assistant graduate of the Brigham Young University of Hawaii, I am a member of the Orthopedic Trauma Association (OTA), Wester Orthopedic Association (WOA), and the American Academy of Physican Associates (AAPA).

In college, I wrote a paper about the correlation of a hospital’s length of stay, and the difference it made to have a dedicated orthopedic trauma surgeon. Today, I have the honor of working within the trauma treatment service I once wrote about. I am passionate about high-quality orthopedic care, efficient use of medical resources, and a compassionate understanding of an injury’s effects on a patient’s quality of life. The cumulation of my early life experiences brought me to this place of career happiness. I truly feel like this is my life calling. I have been working with the Slocum team for more than 15 years in different capacities, and recently had the opportunity to volunteer for medical missions locally, and abroad in Guatemala, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.

After serving a 2 year proselyting mission in Korea I thought I would use the language skills I learned to work in business, primarily in Asia. I got that all wrong! What I really loved was helping other people. While finishing up my under graduate studies at BYU-Hawaii I was privileged to meet and shadow an orthopedic surgeon who worked with a PA. I had never heard of a PA or the PA profession till then. When my wife and I started a family we decided to move closer to family for short time and that is when we came Eugene. I was blessed to be hired on as a medical assistant with a great organization that supported me in my desire to continue my education to become a PA. That organization is now Slocum Orthopedics. I have worked for this group for almost 20 years in some form or another. Even when I was in PA school I came back to play the roll of Santa Clause for the kids Christmas Party, which I have done 16 times now. I am passionate about high quality orthopedic care, efficient use of medical resources and compassionate understanding of injury and the effects on quality of life. I feel a cumulation of my early life experiences brought me to this place of career happiness. I truly feel like this is my life calling.

Education & Training

In health care I have worked as a scholarship student athletic trainer at BYU-Hawaii, nursing assistant at Poudre Valley Hospital in Colorado, medical assistant at Orthopedic Healthcare Northwest, (the precursor to Slocum Orthopedics here in Eugene) and as a physician assistant at Slocum Orthopedics for 15 years primarily work with Dr. Daniel Fitzpatrick.

Credentials

While in PA school I wrote my masters capstone paper about hospital length of stay and the correlation of having a dedicated orthopedic trauma surgeon. This showed a full day decrease in hospitalization with having a dedicated trauma surgeon. I now work for the trauma service for which I analyzed and wrote the paper about. I was the allied health profession chair for the Western Orthopedic Associations annual meeting in Indian Wells CA. Responsibilities included organizing breakout sessions tailored to allied health professionals during the annual meeting. In more recent years I have had the opportunity to volunteer for medical missions locally and abroad in Guatemala, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. I am a member of the Orthopedic Trauma Association (OTA), Western Orthopedic Association (WOA) and the American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA).