I grew up in Junction, a small town in the Texas Hill Country where livestock greatly outnumber the inhabitants. I spent my junior year of high school as a Rotary Club Exchange Student in Holbaek, Denmark. It was such a remarkable experience! I attended a regular Danish high school and had the opportunity to travel all around Europe at the age of 17.
After finishing high school, I attended Texas A&M University and was fully indoctrinated into the Aggie family. I still try to attend a couple of football games every year. And every year I think next year will be the year for a national championship. But now we have Jimbo Fisher, so maybe one year soon.
After A&M I went to UT Houston for medical school. I always thought I would be a surgeon or family practitioner. Like most students, I had never heard of a pathologist until I took my Pathology class. It was only after doing extremely well on my final that I thought maybe I should give Pathology a look. So, I decided to take an elective Pathology rotation. And, as they say, the rest is history. I chose Pathology and never looked back. During my fourth year I had the opportunity to spend a month in China on a cultural exchange in 1993, which was another great experience of life and medicine outside the U.S.
I matched at UT Southwestern, where I completed my residency in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology. I was fortunate to have a great mentor in Rob McKenna, M.D. During my training he was the President of the American Society of Clinical Pathology, and he piqued my curiosity in organized medicine. I attended a Texas Medical Association (TMA) meeting for the first time with a fellow resident, John Armitage, M.D. I quickly became active in the TMA and was soon Chair of the Resident Section and was a member of the Council on Socioeconomics. I attended numerous American Medical Association (AMA) meetings and Texas Society of Pathologists (TSP) meetings during my years in residency. I was selected for my first College of American Pathologists (CAP) committee as a fourth-year resident, the Practice Guidelines Committee. The final group that I was involved with as a resident was the American Pathology Foundation (APF). It was the APF that focused me on practice management in pathology.
I decided to go into private practice and was fortunate to get a job in Roanoke, VA at a four-person group in 1998. We merged three years later with two other groups within the Carilion system to form a twelve-person group. I became President of Dominion Pathology Associates a few years later. My involvement in organized medicine continued with the Roanoke Academy of Medicine (RAM), Virginia Society of Pathologists (VSP), APF, CAP, AMA and the Medical Society of Virginia (MSV). During my eight years in Roanoke, I served as President of the RAM, President of the VSP, Board Member of the APF, delegate chair to the CAP House of Delegates, CAP PathPAC Board, and 2nd vice-president of the MSV. I also received the AMA Foundation’s Leadership Award and the MSV’s Rising Star Award. I was happy with my career and the things I had accomplished in Virginia. I was not looking to leave Virginia, but a good friend of mine made me an offer I could not refuse. The family picked up and moved to Spartanburg, SC. I left behind a number of good friends in Roanoke, but sometime life takes you in a different direction than you had anticipated.
I joined a seven-pathologist group in 2006 and focused on our independent anatomic and cytology laboratory and developing relationships within the region. With the changes affecting medicine, we decided to merge with a larger group in Charlotte, NC to form Carolinas Pathology Group. Now we have a group of over 30 pathologists and PhD’s. In the past twelve years, I continued to be involved in organized medicine. With my focus on our group’s practice and as President of our independent lab, I decided to cut back on some of my involvement. I continued my involvement with the CAP and APF, as well as adding the South Carolina Society of Pathologists (SCSP) and Spartanburg County Medical Society. During these past 15 years I have served on numerous CAP committees, participated in numerous CAP inspections, had multiple roles in the CAP House of Delegates with 8 years on the HOD Steering committee (Sergeant at Arms, Secretary), served as President of the APF, and President of the SCSP. While President of the APF, I was able to guide the organization from a multiyear net loss to a large net profit by the addition of the Coding Handbook and the development of Lab Management University in conjunction with ASCP.
Finally, I decided to formalize my business experience and get my master’s degree in business administration (MBA). I completed my MBA from the University of South Carolina in 2018. It has been a great experience with some emphasis on international business, including time in Vienna and Prague.
ON THE PERSONAL SIDE
On a personal side, I spend my days with my beautiful wife Sarah and our two dogs, Penny and Coaley. The kids are out of the house so we enjoy spending our free time at our lake house in the mountains of North Carolina. When not at the lake house, we love to travel. Italy has been our favorite destination thus far but there are so many other places to see. With the pandemic our travel has been to see some of our beautiful national parks.
I have three great kids. The twins are leaving the nest with one recently graduating from Clemson and the other graduating from Texas A&M in May 2021. Whoop!