Fryburg Doctor, Veteran Credits Army for Role in Career

Ron Wilshire

Ron Wilshire

Published November 2, 2018 4:55 am
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FRYBURG, Pa. (EYT) – Dr. Paul Hamm, of Brooks Medical Arts in Fryburg, looks back on his five years serving as a U.S. Army doctor as one of the defining moments in his life that led to his career.

He emphasized other significant points in his life were marrying Bethann and the birth of their two daughters. Bethann is also a doctor with Brooks Medical in Clarion and Leeper.

“I thought it was a privilege and very humbling at times,” Hamm said. “I learned a lot, and at times, you are thrust in there. The whole thing about the military is the team aspect, and you can do your job the best you can. It’s about every small part working together.”

“There are so many people in a big machine and are all working for one single goal.”

The road to becoming an Army doctor started in his senior year of college when he found out he was admitted to medical school. He always had thought about joining the military, so he applied for a scholarship. He was awarded one through the Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP).

“I was in the Army Reserves during Med School from 1990-94, and the HPSP requires you to sign on for four years of school and five years in the Army, and they pay for your school.”

He and his wife Bethann graduated from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1994. After completing his first year, he went to the Officer Basic Course in Fort Sam Houston, Texas, home of the U.S. Army Medical Command (MEDCOM). He was put on active duty the day he graduated.

“My first duty assignment was Fort Benning, Georgia, for three years, followed by two years at Ft. Polk, Louisiana. In between the two assignments, I had to go to a school at San Antonio to be certified as a preventive medicine doctor at Ft. Polk.”

Bethann did not join the military but worked as a doctor in Georgia and as a civilian doctor in the Ft. Polk Army Hospital.

“As a doctor in the Army, it’s quite interesting; you’re exposed to so many things and people from all over the country. You grow as a person, but as a doctor, you’re around so many varieties of patients and illnesses. We did sick call, so I took care of active duty. We took care of retirees, and we took care of families and their children.”

“You get very involved with the soldiers’ lives. The number one priority is soldier readiness, keeping soldiers healthy and keeping their families healthy. You’re taking care of retirees, and when I was there, we had a lot of World War II and Korea veterans. Many times, you have to think quick on your feet, improvise, and adapt. If they got backed up in ER, you became an ER doctor. Other times when I was getting ready for deployments, we would go down and vaccinate the soldiers.”

“You learn a lot, and the learning curve is really steep. You learn a lot in a very short period. The military was good for me.”

Often asked about his military service, he has some sage advice for young kids.

“When they ask, I tell them it’s a little like living at home with your parents. I don’t think you appreciate the military (or your family) until you’re away from it. It’s not until you look back and realize that you learned a lot. There are so many lessons you bring back to your life.”

The Hamms started looking where to practice next about a year before he would leave the Army. His wife is from Allentown, and he grew up in Pittsburgh, and they wanted a small community.

“We took a week off. We stopped at Clarion hospital. I took a phone book listing of all the doctors and wrote each of them about our interest in working there. Dr. Brooks answered, and we came up a couple of weeks later, and you know how that worked out.”

“We didn’t want to move again because we went from Philly to Georgia, and so we were looking to settle down. The second time we came up, we walked around town and decided this be what we were looking.  We bought a house outside of Knox.  That was in 1999, and we’ve been here ever since.”

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