In Good Company

Jordan Brunswick, M.D., ’15, finds rewarding work in rural emergency rooms

Vital Signs » Fall 2019

Jordan Brunswick, M.D., ’15, was fortunate to be the first medical student at the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine to complete family medicine and pediatrics rotations as part of the school’s expanding rural health efforts in Celina and St. Marys, Ohio. Since he grew up near northwest Ohio, the rotations were an ideal fit.

“I'd always hoped to be able to return home and be able to help the people in the community in which I was raised. Having grown up in a tight-knit farming community, I feel as though I can better relate to patients found in rural areas,” Brunswick said. “I have always viewed it as a way to pay it forward and show my gratitude to the people in the community who helped influence me along my path to becoming a physician.”

After graduation, Brunswick went on to complete a residency in emergency medicine at the University of Kentucky. He moved back to southwestern Ohio after he finished, and works in the area’s rural emergency rooms. Dr. Brunswick rotates at Joint Township District Memorial Hospital in St. Marys, Ohio. He also works in the suburban emergency room locations of Miami Valley Hospital.

He commonly sees differences in injuries between urban patients and those living in rural areas. Those from rural regions are more likely to get injured while they’re working outside, commonly on farms. “There are more agricultural and wilderness-related injuries,” Brunswick said.

Working in rural areas, Brunswick feels he gets to treat patients more directly. Since the hospitals are smaller, he is often the first doctor to see them. It is like being on the front lines.

“I truly believe that I have the best job in the world. I see a wide variety of patients and illnesses across all demographics, any time of day and any given day of the week. I have seen patients having the worst days of their lives and others the best, oftentimes within the same shift,” Brunswick said. “I know that the care I am able to provide truly makes a difference in the lives of others. The impact that my training in this career has enabled me to have in aiding the lives of others is fantastically rewarding.”

Dr. Brunswick has learned many lessons working in rural emergency rooms. He has seen firsthand the importance of being flexible, as rural hospitals sometimes don’t have the same resources as larger, more urban ones. This flexibility has taught him that emergency medicine doctors should not take things for granted.

“Rural areas have a great deal to offer as a unique educational and practical experience that wouldn't normally be considered by some students. The practice of an emergency physician in a rural hospital can be significantly different than that of one in an urban setting,” Brunswick said. “I believe this is a tremendous opportunity for the Boonshoft School of Medicine and its medical students who may be interested in emergency medicine.”

— Daniel Kelly

Last edited on 09/19/2019.