Our 2025 Illinois Family Physician magazine “Cover Doc” has been involved with IAFP since medical school, serving as a board member and hosting a Summer Externship student the past three summers. She practices at Family Healthcare of Gibson City.  

Why did you pursue the OB Fellowship training?

My favorite part of my job as a family physician is caring for women during pregnancy, during delivery, and taking care of the entire family afterwards. That continuity of care gives us an important perspective that other providers do not have. During residency, it felt unnatural to hand my patients off to other physicians during their most vulnerable moments - when they needed cesarean sections or had other obstetric emergencies. I wanted to be able to handle anything my patients need, since I was the one they trusted and had built a relationship with. I also loved surgery and wanted more comfort managing higher risk pregnancies. Superstar FMOB Dr. Rahmat Na’allah (UICOM-Peoria) helped me accomplish all these goals during my fellowship.

You grew up and completed your medical education in Chicagoland - what led you Gibson City?

During residency in Chicago, I loved caring for a diverse, underserved patient population, but I started to burn out working in a large hospital. It felt like patients too often got lost in the system, and worse outcomes seemed insurmountable.  I had daydreamed about life as a “small town doc” in the past and was thinking about trying something new towards the end of residency.

The Gibson City opportunity fell into my lap after Dr. David Hagan – a long time Gibson City physician - approached me at an IAFP board meeting about designing a family medicine obstetrics residency elective here.  Gibson Area Hospital and all the incredible people working here were very impressive. Everyone poured their heart into their work every day, and patients felt cared for and appreciated. And the quality of care was unlike anything I’d ever seen. We have lived here almost six years now. I honestly feel like I was always meant to be a small-town girl… I just didn’t always know it. And I have an incredibly supportive husband who enjoys our small-town life. I feel very blessed to be here!

Can you summarize your role as a family physician delivering babies in a rural area like Gibson City?

Family physicians practicing in this setting truly do it all. We manage our patients’ pregnancies, perform cesarean sections if needed, and see the babies after delivery. We do not have a NICU, a blood bank, or other specialists and resources available in larger hospitals. Therefore anything from severe postpartum hemorrhages to premature infants requiring neonatal resuscitation - we treat them and stabilize for transfer if needed.  We also have a very vulnerable high-risk population. We help them navigate transportation barriers, food insecurity, mental health diagnoses or substance use disorders, and other social determinants of health.  I also provide lactation counseling and manage chronic health conditions and preventive health care for all the other members of the family.

For the past three years, you've hosted medical students through the IAFP Summer Externship program. After each student spends those four weeks with you, what do you hope they take away from that experience?

My hope is that students leave the externship with a deeper understanding of the importance of full-scope family medicine in rural communities and community medicine in general. I also want to expose medical students to the joys of rural medicine. I think more physicians would choose to practice in a small town if they truly knew how rewarding it can be.

Illinois and our nation are still facing a maternal health crisis.  You've been here over five years.  What's your message to future physicians?  What is your message to our public and private health care system that will lead to healthier mothers and babies? 

Gibson Area Hospital is one of only a few remaining critical access hospitals in Illinois delivering babies.  I have participated in many high-risk deliveries - and there likely would have been a poor outcome if Gibson Area Hospital wasn’t available to the community providing obstetric services. There is currently a strong push to funnel all obstetric care to large hospital systems.  But research tells us that women who must travel outside of their own community to deliver a baby have worse outcomes.  If rural labor and delivery units close, maternal morbidity and mortality in rural areas will only get worse.  To reverse these trends, we need alternative models of obstetric care – including small rural labor and delivery units staffed by surgically-trained family medicine physicians who live in the same community. 

What is your response to those who ask why family physicians are needed in OB - can obstetricians handle everything?

The number of OB/GYN residency slots have not increased to meet the need and more OB/GYNs are choosing to specialize.  We have a worsening provider shortage that family physicians can absolutely help fill.  Family physicians are more likely to practice in underserved areas.  And in my opinion, many people from all backgrounds are looking for a more holistic, patient-centered approach to care and might feel more comfortable with a family medicine obstetric provider. Finally, studies have suggested that family physicians who perform cesarean sections have the same or better outcomes compared to OB/GYN . Family medicine led obstetric units have demonstrated lower cesarean delivery rates. Our specialty could have a tremendous impact on the future of obstetric care in this country - but we need a stronger voice and policies to enable it!

Any final thoughts about family medicine in rural America?

I dressed up as a giraffe while trick-or-treating with my kids this year. Recently, when entering the delivery room, many dads have said, “Last time I saw you doc, you were dressed up as a giraffe!”  The best part about being a rural family physician truly is being a part of a small, tight-knit community and the relationships. I gave birth to my own children here and now my kids get to grow up with and trick-or-treat with other kids that I delivered. It truly is something special. 

How you feel being on the cover representing Illinois family medicine?
For me personally, it means a lot for IAFP to highlight what we do, given the current landscape and the challenges of access to obstetric care in rural Illinois and everywhere.  Family physicians are vital in ensuring healthy babies and families and improving our maternal health outcomes!