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Interest in medicine may be in the Tackett family's DNA

Growing up as the son of a small-town family practice doctor, Brandon Tacket saw that his dad was much more than the man people came to with their medical problems.

Growing up as the son of a small-town family practice doctor, Brandon Tackett saw that his dad was much more than the man people came to with their medical problems.

Dr. Robert Tackett was an important contributor to the community. More importantly, he was a friend.

"There were times that I'd be pulling on him to get him away from talking to someone in line at the grocery store," said Tackett about his dad, who spent 15 years practicing family medicine in Wamego, Kansas, a community of about 4,500 people near Manhattan. A graduate of the KU School of Medicine, he's now on the staff of Kansas State University's student health center.

The younger Tackett, a first-year family medicine resident at the KU School of Medicine-Wichita, wants to enjoy the same kind of close community relationship.

"I want to be integrated into a town and know the people I run into at the grocery store or the ball field," said Tackett. That's why he chose family medicine as a specialty and also plans to become part of a small-town practice.

The elder Tackett set a good example, he says.

"There was an older gentleman in our church who we would go hunting with every year, and Dad diagnosed him with lymphoma. I liked seeing how my dad was involved with him, and not just as his physician, but he was there for him spiritually and as a friend."

Camaraderie among residents is part of the reason Brandon Tackett choose the Via Christi family medicine residency program in Wichita. The program has a history of residents forming close relationships and going on to practice together, something he's currently discussing with other first-year residents.

His wife, Bonnie, whom he met the first week of medical school, and his best friend from childhood, Michael Page, are also in the Via Christi program. The three residents along with Page's wife, a counseling psychologist, have been talking about the possibility of practicing together in a rural Kansas community.

The program also has a strong international medicine element, offering a rotation in overseas medical missions, and is part of a faith-based organization, which appealed to Tackett. He participated in a faith mission to Hungary and Slovakia while at KU as an undergraduate student, which mirrors his father's medical missions to Kenya and Zimbabwe.

In addition to his father's example, Tackett mentions being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was a young child as influencing his medical career.

 "I can empathize and sympathize when talking to patients," Tackett said. He can talk about dealing with challenging circumstances and the day to day issues associated with having a chronic illness.

"Also, just to appreciate and take life one day at a time," he said.

 

 


KU School of Medicine-Wichita