I am a board-certified podiatrist, healthcare leader, educator, and civic volunteer whose career has been shaped by a practical commitment to service. My path to medicine was unconventional. Before becoming a physician, I worked in emergency medical services and law enforcement, including assignments in corrections, patrol, and investigations. Those experiences taught me to remain calm under pressure, communicate with people from widely different backgrounds, distinguish the essential from the distracting, and approach difficult problems as they actually exist.

I earned a B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology from Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri, and my Doctor of Podiatric Medicine degree from Des Moines University Osteopathic Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa. I completed my surgical residency at Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri, and have practiced in multiple states over the course of my career. My clinical interests include amputation prevention, biomechanics, and forefoot pathology and surgery.

I currently practice at GraceMed Health Clinic, a federally qualified health center in Wichita, Kansas, where I care for underserved patients and serve as Associate Medical Director of Specialty Services. Working in an FQHC has reinforced my belief that excellent medicine does not have to be elaborate: it must be clinically sound, understandable, accessible, and responsive to the person in front of the clinician. My approach emphasizes mastery of fundamentals, sound clinical judgment, compassionate communication, and treatments that reliably improve patients’ everyday lives.

I am board certified by the American Board of Podiatric Medicine and serve on its Examination Subcommittee, contributing to the development and review of examinations used to assess podiatric physicians. I also serve on the American College of Podiatric Medicine Education Committee and am a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. My professional interests increasingly extend beyond individual patient care to medical education, professional standards, healthcare policy, leadership, and the ways institutions can better serve both patients and clinicians. I am the host of ACPM’s podcast, Conversations in Podiatry, where I speak with the people shaping our profession and healthcare more broadly. Episodes will soon be available on social media and major podcast streaming platforms.

That same interest in institutions and public service has led me to become increasingly active in civic life in Wichita. I am developing The Informed Kansan, a public-policy and civic-education project intended to make state and local issues understandable to ordinary citizens. I participate in local civic organizations and public meetings and have become involved in neighborhood service through Wichita’s Adopt-a-Park program, helping care for Mayor’s Pine Grove. I also volunteer as an immigration assistant with the International Rescue Committee in Wichita, where my work includes helping individuals prepare for the U.S. naturalization examination as well as assisting with other immigration-related needs.

These activities are part of a broader interest in elected and appointed public service. I am exploring a future role in local or state government. My interest in public service grows from the same practical philosophy that has guided my clinical career: understand the problem before advocating a solution, focus attention on matters government can actually improve, and judge policies by whether they work for the people and communities they are intended to serve.

Across medicine, education, civic engagement, and public policy, my interests are connected by a common theme: useful service grounded in reality. Whether helping a patient remain ambulatory, helping a future citizen prepare for naturalization, contributing to professional standards, caring for a neighborhood public space, or explaining a complicated policy question, I am most interested in work that turns knowledge and judgment into practical benefit for others.