Bryan Stucky, M.D., may be starting a trend.

The first member of his family to become a doctor, Stucky, who practices in Garden City, Kansas, may soon see his brothers join his profession. Brad, the second oldest of the Stucky brothers, starts his first year of residency in Wichita this summer. Brandon, the next in line, just finished his first year at KU School of Medicine–Wichita, which is also Bryan's alma mater. Blake, the youngest, is a college sophomore who's thinking about following suit.

"We have similar interests, and I guess we don't mind going to school," the elder Stucky said.

Bryan Stucky graduated from the Wichita campus in 2009 and did his residency at the KUSM-W family medicine residency program at Via Christi Health. He was named outstanding resident in 2012, after which he returned to his hometown of Garden City.

"It's one of the most incredible things to come back to the town where I grew up and take care of people like my former teachers, and parents, and their kids," he says.

Stucky comes from a family of builders, not doctors. He traces in his interest in medicine to the third grade, when he read about the first surgeon to successfully separate conjoined twins joined at the head.

"He really helped people and from that point forward that's what I wanted to do," Stucky says.

Stucky worked for an ophthalmologist in college and thought about becoming a surgeon or other specialist, but ultimately decided he preferred the challenge of family medicine. "I like the variety you get, and the ability to decide what you want to do."

He gets that opportunity daily at Plaza Medical Center in Garden City, where he's one of six family physicians. He sees patients of all ages -about 25 per day on average - delivers babies, and rounds on his patients at St. Catherine Hospital.

Stucky is most challenged by patients who are in overall poor health due to several medical conditions. He also has to tailor patients' care to fit with the type of insurance coverage they have.

On a recent afternoon, Stucky sees an elderly, obese woman who is experiencing dizzy spells, and what she thinks are heart palpitations. She tells Stucky she'd had one heart stent put in and didn't want another.

"How about I get you a heart monitor?" Stucky asks. While she considers that option, he follows up on another condition he'd treated her for - dermatitis. "How's that cream working on your scalp?" he asks. She brightens for a moment. "Hey, it's nearly well," she says.

Stucky steps out to take a call from a nurse at the hospital: an expectant mother is dehydrated and constipated. Stucky advises more fluids and says he might move delivery up by C-section.

Returning to the elderly patient's room, the results of her blood pressure tests show that her pressure is dropping precipitously when she stands up. He makes an adjustment in her medication. Meanwhile, he discovers the woman's insurance won't cover a heart monitor.

Next, Stucky sees a World War II veteran who's experiencing pain in his knees. Stucky speaks in loud tones as he coaxes information from the man and his wife, both of whom have trouble hearing. Stucky said he could increase the man's pain medication but warns, "We have to be careful, because it can make you constipated and it can make you fall."

Stucky says interaction with his patients is one of his favorite parts of medical practice. "As a family physician, you're not going to have the answer for everything. You need to be your patients' advocate to get them the best care."

That same morning, he reviews an X-ray of a woman with back pain (finding it inconclusive, he orders an MRI for more detail) and conducts a follow-up visit with a man he's treating for depression.

Stucky's practice is organized so that he works four days a week, allowing him to spend more time with his wife, Danielle, and their two young children ages 2 and 4. He's getting back into tennis he last played in high school and college, and enjoys riding his dirt bike in dry river beds.

He doesn't know whether any of his brothers will follow him back to Garden City. One spent a month shadowing Dr. Nathan Strandmark, one of Stucky's partners in Plaza Medical Center. Another will do the same with Dr. Thomas Koksal, a colleague and fellow KU School of Medicine–Wichita alumnus, this summer.

There's no shortage of work for doctors in Garden City. The western Kansas city's medical community serves a large area, with patients coming from as far away as Oklahoma and Colorado. And there's a shortage of primary care physicians.

"If they want to come back here and work at the clinic, that would be nice," Stucky says. "I think we're all committed to this community."