The first 17 years of my life were spent on our family farm near Rigby, Idaho where I milked cows, bucked haybales and irrigated fields of potatoes. The money that I earned from raising calves and working for the Idaho Fish and Game Department paid for my Bachelor’s Degree in zoology at Brigham Young University. A fellowship at the University of North Dakota paid for my PhD in physiology and pharmacology and launched my career that I now describe as occurring in four phases.
Phase 1 (Teaching and Research) began at the age of 25 when I was appointed Assistant Professor at Oklahoma’s osteopathic medical school. During the next seven years, I taught, and investigated in, pharmacology and was mentored in management positions such as Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and Director of Research.
Phase II (Leadership and Management) began at the age of 32, when I was appointed President of West Virginia’s osteopathic medical school. I was often introduced as America’s youngest medical school president. That early career momentum propelled me into a series of leadership positions, in which I enjoyed an unprecedented array of conventional and complementary health sciences professions in public, private, domestic and foreign universities.
Phase III (Education and Research Consulting) began in 2001 when I formed Continuum Biomedical Consultants, Inc. My clients included America’s oldest dietary supplement company, for which I managed research and product development, as well as a Caribbean medical school.
In 2018 I made the decision to pursue a new Phase IV (Teaching and Publishing). I accepted my current position at Rocky Vista University, where I teach pharmacology, interprofessional education, academic medicine and leadership, nutrition, and manage virtual grand rounds. I am also writing several books based on my experiences of the first three phases.
In 2024, I will celebrate my first half-century as a medical educator, and over five decades of marriage to Marteen, whom I met in the first grade at Rigby Elementary.
