Read Why Physicians Successfully Practice in Iowa
Deborah Turner, MD
Gynecologic Oncology
Des Moines
"This is a state that is very much on the cutting edge of medicine. Whatever new things you hear that are happening in other parts of the country, you can almost guarantee that someone somewhere in Iowa has got that new process or is dealing with that new technology. You've got a new technology that does incredible research; one of the top research universities in the country and has many ongoing protocols; and you have hospitals and medical centers outside the university who are doing research or trying new techniques. So if you are worried about coming to Iowa and being in a situation where you're not going to get cutting-edge medicine, then you can rest, put that aside, because you can get it and you will get it."
Robert Lee, MD
Family Medicine
Johnston
"I know when I have to spend some time in a big city, traffic is a big, huge stress. I'm four minutes from work. Most people have less than a 10 minute commute to work. So you don't have time to get all stressed out. Here in Iowa I think that patients really value a physician, that we're still held up on a pedestal. Whether that's right or not, they really want to listen to us, to take our advice and it's not an adversarial relationship..."
Mike Romano, MD
Hospitalist
Council Bluffs
"This is an area where if you reach out to someone, they reach back. Iowans are a very open, trusting type of people and that's what you need. To approach a person, a stranger, with a sense of distrust, really is not a good way to start a relationship. But I think you will find that Iowans approach each other in a more trusting manner. And again, it comes back to that, it's the human interaction that defines the quality of life."
Joyce Vista-Wayne, MD
Pediatric/Adolescent Psychiatry
Ottumwa
"Once you get into your practice, you'll find all the things you're looking for: good infrastructure, good community practice, great hospitals, patients and a great place to live and raise children, a safe place, good education system. When you start looking at all that, Iowa really does pop up to the top of the list."
Peter Reiter, MD
Internal Medicine
Ottumwa
"Well, I think they need to look at the economics a little bit. We live in a 19th century Victorian home that we've remodeled...that we've been able to afford, that has 4,000 square feet. If I lived in California, that would be worth $2 million. I wouldn't be able to afford it. So people need to understand that there are some things in Iowa that are more affordable than elsewhere. Food costs the same, but real estate doesn't. You don't have to commute two hours or an hour a day to get where you want to go. So that both in terms of amenities that you can afford and the time to enjoy them, I think you have more choices here."
Andy Goodner, MD
Iowa Falls
"I think physicians want to hear that they will have a successful practice that's well supported by the community, by the larger hospital institution in general, but still be able to maintain a good family life, a good quality of life. I think you find that in Iowa communities. I think you find quality health care, busy practices, well balanced family life where you can get home and still have plenty of family time. If there is a health care system change we need in our hospital, where in a big system it may takes weeks to implement or months, sometimes I can make the change overnight. If I see something that needs improved, we just go in and make it."
Hunter Fuerste, MD
Ophthalmologist
Dubuque
"In my community, every Sunday night in the summer, there is a music concert that is put on by an arts group, and they've really over the last ten to fifteen years increased the quality. People bring picnic baskets, a glass of wine, a lemonade. You can look around on a Sunday night at 6:30, the birds are chirping and deer are running around in the background. You can listen to music and your friends are all out there and you go 'It doesn't get any better than this!'"
Victoria Sharp, MD, MBA
Clinical Associate Professor of Urology and Family Medicine
Iowa City
"I had grown up on the East coast, lived in Arizona and I was totally shocked about how nice it was here, actually. I came and it was winter time and I was coming from Arizona at that time, but it was beautiful, there was a nice river flowing through town, there were rolling hills. And the people I met and then the hospital I went to interview was beautiful, the people were really nice. They asked, ‘Do you need help?' and I thought, this is different than other places that I had been."
Lawrence Hutchison, MD
Family Medicine
Dubuque
"I've met people from everywhere. And the Midwestern personality and the Midwestern people are just different. They're friendlier. They're respectful. You don't have the challenges here that you do in other places, whether it be big cities or the coast, or places where doctors are really almost overpopulated or where the medical community is really fractionated to the point where people don't even know who their doctor is. They meet ‘em once, they meet ‘em twice and then they're going off to somebody else. Lots of the country is beginning to model its medical structure, its infrastructure, after Iowa. Because of the way we practice medicine. You know your patients, they know who you are. You know their whole families. And that's not just family medicine doctors like myself. That's all doctors."