As a high school wrestler and football player, Martin Dillow, M.D., thought he might someday become a teacher so he could coach one of those sports himself. Today he is working with young athletes, but as a team physician. 

Friday nights usually find him on the sidelines of an athletic contest for Chanute High School, his alma mater, or Neosho Community College, the town's two-year college. "I would go to the games anyway, but standing down there on the sideline, that's a unique experience," Dillow said.  

It's just one aspect of Dillow's workload as a family physician. From delivering babies to caring for elderly nursing home residents, Dillow sees a wide range of patients in his hometown.  

Born and raised in Chanute, Dillow is the son of a law enforcement officer. He and his wife, Tricia, who's also a Chanute native, have three children. He coaches youth wrestling and enjoys the area's opportunities for hunting and fishing.  

Dillow was between his second and third year at Emporia State University, majoring in education, when he spent 200 hours shadowing Dr. Mark Wendt.  

"I knew then that if I went into medicine, I could come back to Chanute and do the same thing," he said.  

Dillow changed his focus to medicine and graduated from the KU School of Medicine-Wichita, due to the Wichita campus' emphasis on family medicine. He was chief resident at KUSM-W's family medicine residency program at Via Christi during his last year there, 2008.  

"I like people, and the problem-solving aspect of it really appealed to me," he said. "Even today, I start seeing more of the connections in the community, as I get to know more patients and their families."

Dillow, who did an elective rotation in sports medicine at Via Christi, offers a weekly sports medicine clinic in Chanute. Even young athletes can experience chronic pain in knees, shoulders, and other frequently overused areas; rehabilitation, referrals for surgery, and teaching the athletes how to manage their bodies to avoid injuries are some of the things Dillow does as a team physician.  

Dillow starts most days with about an hour of rounding at the 26-bed Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center, located next door to the clinic. The largest critical access hospital in Kansas, Neosho Memorial serves a four-county area and is "very busy," according to Dillow.  

The region is one of the state's poorest; many patients have multiple medical conditions typical of low-income areas, from lung damage caused by smoking to diabetes and high blood pressure associated with obesity.  

"We've got challenges," Dillow said, and while it's never easy to change behavior, he said, "We begin the conversation. You have to help them see long term and where this is leading them."  

One patient, in his 60s and suffering from high blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol, lost 30 pounds over about five months to help get his symptoms under control. "Those are the happy outcomes," Dillow said.  

Dillow delivers 25 to 30 babies a year. "It gets you into pediatrics and helps keep your practice young," he said.  

At the other end of the spectrum, he sees patients in two nursing homes on a regular basis. Dillow said the Wichita school "more than prepared him" to practice medicine, and he's happy to be back helping the folks he grew up with.  

"I'm part of Chanute," he said. "I never even entertained the thought of going anywhere else."