Aloha … from BethePhysician assistant Tammy Gerdes joins Bethel family care clinic
RANDOLPH, April 10, 2009 – Physician Assistant Tammy Gerdes of Barnard has joined the Bethel Health Center two days a week, providing primary care to area families.
The health center is part of Gifford Medical Center in Randolph. Gerdes comes to Gifford from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in White River Junction, where she continues to work two days a week.
A Texas native, Gerdes earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from Texas A&M University, her master’s degree in molecular biology from Texas Tech University and then her physician assistant degree from Le Moyne College Physician Assistant Program in Syracuse, N.Y.
She has a substantial background in medical research. She traveled to Belize and Guatemala as a research assistant and to study third world medicine in the late 1980s. She went on to have a variety of research positions, including as a senior medical research assistant at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center from 1993-1995, and was a medical interviewer at Dartmouth Medical School from 1995-1997.
Her work at Dartmouth introduced her to Vermont.
“I came up here and visited the outdoors, and I loved it,” says Gerdes, who moved to Vermont in 2000 and has worked the nine years since in primary care and as an environmental health clinical coordinator for the VA’s Agent Orange, Gulf War and Ionizing Radiation programs, which she helped develop and implement.
Gerdes says she was attracted to Gifford because of its “personalized” approach to health care.
“I love small towns, and the personalization. It was an institution that offered good quality medical care, and it was small,” Gerdes says of Gifford and the Bethel Health Center, where she began seeing patients this week.
For Gerdes, her work in Bethel is the realization of a dream to be a small-town primary care provider who has strong connections with her patients.
“I like to think of my patients as extended family members,” she says.
Gerdes is certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. She is available to patients of all ages. Her background in cancer research makes her especially interested in hematology and oncology patients, she notes. Her experiences in Belize and Guatemala also have broadened her knowledge of herbal remedies, allowing her to integrate various medical philosophies with Western medicine, she says.
“My mission is to provide quality care for the patient and families to promote better physical and mental well-being,” she says.
Gerdes has a family of her own. She is married and has three children, ages 1, 3 and 5. She enjoys cycling, hiking, camping, canoeing, drawing, astronomy, photography, travel and dance (She studied ballet for years and almost joined a ballet company at one point).
To schedule an appointment with Gerdes, call the Bethel Health Center at (802) 234-9913.