Physician profile: DeVry Anderson, M.D.

DeVry Anderson, M.D., Chief medical officer, CEO, owner: Quick Care Walk-In Clinic; brigade surgeon, Warrior Transition Brigade, Fort Hood, TX

Work

Chief medical officer, CEO, owner: Quick Care Walk-In Clinic; brigade surgeon, Warrior Transition Brigade, Fort Hood, Texas

Education

MEDICAL SCHOOL: Thomas Jefferson Medical College, 2000

INTERNSHIP: Completed an orthopedic internship in 2000.

RESIDENCY: Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center, Fort Hood, Texas

IN PRACTICE SINCE: Practiced as a military surgeon until returning to family medicine residency in 2006.

Personal

Family includes wife, attorney Keiko Anderson, and their three children: Calvin (15), Jasmine (13) and Camille (9). Hobbies include playing the piano, weightlifting and serving as the men’s ministry leader at his church. Anderson served in the U.S. military for more than 15 years and has been twice deployed to Iraq. He is also a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point.

What is the best part about military service?

Being a military physician provides a unique sense of purpose and an incredible sense of pride. You know that you are making a difference every time you put on the uniform and look into the eyes of servicemen and women who have volunteered to serve in the defense of this great country.

What is the most challenging part of transitioning out of the military?

Young military practitioners are somewhat buffeted, if not totally shielded, from the executive and financial management related to their medical practice. There is a lot of emphasis placed on leadership in military environments. Far less emphasis is placed on the “dollars and cents” of medical practice and health care management at the company grade and lower field grade levels.

Anything particularly unique about your physician job search?

I began my job search by exploring the environment in which I wanted to live and raise a family rather than by looking for a particular level of compensation or scope of practice.

What’s your advice for residents beginning their job search?

Start early, be honest with yourself about your personal desires and limitations, and keep an open mind! Consider where you would like to live, and where your family would like to live, when ranking your options. If possible, try to spend some time during your last year of residency shadowing or volunteering at your top two or three job sites.

Any other advice for the physician job search?

I advise everyone to pray about major life changes such as job selection and relocation. …I also suggest that you follow your passions, aptitudes, and desired work and living environments instead of solely seeking social and financial advancement if you plan to be a happy doctor as well as a successful doctor!