Best places to practice medicine

Looking for family-friendly cities for physicians? If your family loves outdoor activities and is fascinated with history, consider Lexington, Massachusetts. If your family is looking for four seasons with a temperate climate, Raleigh, North Carolina, frequently shows up on lists of the best places to live, work and visit. Barbecue fans will enjoy Overland Park, Kansas and all it has to offer. Rochester, Minnesota, invites families to enjoy its scenic beauty and abundant dining, shopping, parks and bike paths.

Lexington, Massachusetts

Families who enjoy history, museums, great attractions, outdoor activities, interesting restaurants and charming shopping will be pleased to make Lexington home. Lexington is located approximately 15 miles northwest of Boston and is surrounded by other cities and towns such as Lincoln, Bedford, Burlington, Concord, Woburn, Winchester, Sudbury, Arlington, Belmont and Waltham. Lexington has a welcoming atmosphere, fantastic educational opportunities and a great deal of cultural diversity.

Residents hike in Lexington’s conservation land and Arlington’s Great Meadow. If you’re a cycling enthusiast, check out the Minuteman Commuter Bikeway. “America’s Revolutionary Rail Trail” runs from Bedford to Cambridge. The bikeway is also popular for walking, running, road biking and cross-country skiing. Or wind down from a long day of outdoor adventures at one of the town’s gourmet restaurants or breweries. 

Lexington hosts a number of wonderful festivals and events throughout the year to celebrate its history and diversity. Some key festivals are Patriot’s Day, Discovery Day, Lantern Festival, Lunar New Year Food Festival and more. For history and museum enthusiasts, as the Birthplace of American Liberty, you can’t go wrong in Lexington. There’s the Battle Green Tour, Liberty Ride Trolley Tour and many more.

“I enjoy living in Lexington, a beautiful suburb just west of Boston, for many reasons,” says Randall McShine, MD, an internal and geriatric medicine physician at Emerson Primary Care-Sudbury. “It is one of the best places in the country to raise a family, thanks to its exceptional public school system, strong sense of community and outstanding healthcare. Lexington and the surrounding towns offer some of the top K-12 schools in the country, along with a wide range of extracurricular opportunities to support students of all ages and interests.”

Diane Forte-Willis, director of physician recruitment and relations for Emerson Health, says that Concord, where Emerson Hospital is located near Lexington, is an ideal place to raise families. “For outdoor enthusiasts, there are many mountains and trails for hiking and skiing. I enjoy taking long walks with my dog on the many local trails,” Forte-Willis says. “With Boston nearby, there is always something to do, from concerts and museums to sporting events and festivals. The area is a very safe and welcoming place to raise a family and has some of the country’s best public schools.”

McShine adds: “The region offers diverse outdoor activities year round. Each season brings its own beauty and opportunities. In the fall, there is magnificent foliage, apple and pumpkin picking. In the winter, there are local hills for sledding and snowshoeing and nearby slopes for skiing. In the spring, there are many outdoor festivals, 5K races and blooming gardens. Summer offers easy access to beaches, lakes and ponds, accessible by car of public transportation.”

Emerson Health is an independent, not-for-profit health system that provides comprehensive medical care for people of all ages through its main hospital in Concord, Massachusetts and specialty offices and urgent care centers in surrounding towns. Emerson Health serves more than 300,000 people in the region, offering expert care at every stage of life. 

McShine enjoys biking on the Minuteman Bikeway and attending historical events, and Boston is not far.

Emerson Health’s main hospital campus is in Concord, 15 minutes from Lexington, with satellite offices and urgent care centers throughout the region. They have a busy birthing center renowned for personalized care and one of the most comprehensive bariatric surgery programs in New England. Emerson Health has clinical partnerships with Mass General Brigham. The partnership includes oncologists from Mass General Brigham who see patients at their cancer center and other specialists who bring Boston-level subspecialty care to their patients.

Forte-Willis adds, “Emerson Health is an outstanding, financially strong, independent, not-for-profit health system that has a clinical affiliation with Mass General Brigham. Emerson is known for providing experienced care with compassion. Our health system achieves many high-quality awards for patient safety, including a five-star quality rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, placing us among the top 15% of hospitals nationwide.”

Raleigh, North Carolina

Families who love to share fun-filled activities will love Raleigh, North Carolina. The Raleigh area offers a wide array of family-friendly attractions and activities to enjoy. From outdoor parks to kids’ museums, annual festivals to adventure courses, Raleigh’s unique brand of creativity and innovation is perfect for the entire family.

Located in central North Carolina, Raleigh is the state capital and is one of three cities forming one of the state’s major urban areas known as the Research Triangle. The other cities making up the Research Triangle are Chapel Hill and Durham. The Raleigh city population is just under 500,000; the county population is around 1.2 million.

Stacey Armistead, a physician recruiter for Duke Raleigh Hospital, says, “We are just three and a half hours from the coast and three hours from the mountains. So if you want to get away for the weekend and head to the beach or mountains, we’ve got that, too. It’s a very central location.”

Dana Goodwin is the public relations and international tourism manager for the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau. She mentions specific museums, events and attractions that are great for families to visit. “I would highly recommend visiting Marble’s Kids Museum, Pullen Park and Laurel Hills Park/Sassafras All Children’s Playground to families visiting Raleigh,” she says. 

Raleigh has four distinct seasons and mild winters. “We have all four seasons, but we don’t get a foot of snow,” Armistead says. “We might get 6 inches at best, maybe 2 or 3. It covers the trees and melts in a few days.”

Shaina Eckhouse, MD, a bariatric surgeon and associate professor of surgery at the Duke University School of Medicine, moved from out of state to work at Duke Raleigh Hospital. “Coming from Texas, personally, I am grateful for the greenery and the ability to spend so much time outside no matter what the season (and actually having four seasons),” she says. “When we first moved to Raleigh, our now 5-year-old Belgian Malinois, Addie, and I hiked every week, at least one to two times in the winter. I have never lived in a place where this was possible. Raleigh has all the amenities of a big city [and] people who are kind, happy and have access to nature.”

Eckhouse completed medical school at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, and her residency at the Medical University of South Carolina, College of Medicine.

“I enjoyed science and art growing up so much that I received both a major in biology and minors in art and art history,” says Eckhouse. “This, combined with my desire to make a difference in people’s lives and to be challenged, led me to apply to medical school. I was drawn to surgery in medical school because of the ability to combine science and art. …I love the ability to treat medical problems, decrease medications needed, and improve a patient’s overall quality and quantity of life.”

There are more than 1,200 Raleigh-area restaurants, offering a wide range of prices and cuisines.

 “We have our share of James Beard nominees and award winners in the area,” Armistead says. “I think people are somewhat surprised by the culinary scene, and we oftentimes have a write up in The Washington Post or The New York Times.”

Benjamin Trichon, MD, an advanced heart failure specialist and cardiologist at Duke Raleigh Hospital, moved from Asheville, North Carolina, to Raleigh. 

“We enjoy the combination of the rich cultural scene in the arts and the multiple universities in this area,” he says. “We also enjoy the number of outdoor opportunities close to the Raleigh metro area as well as the access to food and drink and interesting music events. It also has easy access to the mountains and coast.”

He mentions, “My wife and I like to spend a lot of time outdoors and we are both avid cyclists. We are both runners and have enjoyed a lot of opportunities on the greenways and in the state park nearby. We have dogs, so we enjoy spending time outside with them as well. We enjoy the opportunities of going to concerts, festivals or restaurants in the area.”

Duke Raleigh Hospital has been part of Duke Health since 1998 and has served Wake County for more than 35 years. It employs more than 2,000 people and offers a comprehensive array of services, including cancer care, cardiovascular care, neuroscience, advanced gastrointestinal care and wound care. 

“While I’m inspired by the hospital’s commitment to quality and patient safety, I come to work every day to work with my wonderful team members and take care of our motivated patients,” Eckhouse says. 

Overland Park, Kansas

If your family is looking for family-friendly adventures, never-ending things to explore, great shopping and fabulous food of all kinds (especially barbecue), check out Overland Park, Kansas. Located in the heartland of America, Overland Park is the largest suburb of the Kansas City metro area.

Overland Park is loaded with kid-friendly things to do. One such option is the Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens, which has a 300-acre playground. There is a model train that runs through a miniature landscape. In the children’s garden, kids can visit a frog pond, a story tree, climb a spiraling walkway and explore a shrinking tunnel. Strang Park is Overland Park’s first playground for children of all abilities, with a 30-foot tower, slide and sensory tunnel, climbing cargo nets and ground trampolines. 

If biking and hiking is your thing, enjoy Indian Creek Bike and Hike, which crosses through the middle of Overland Park. The trail is paved and, for the most part, is flat and level. 

These activities just scratch the surface of what Overland Park offers residents. Be sure to investigate the shopping with the variety of malls, downtown boutiques and retail districts. Arts and culture are big in the Kansas City area with live theater, art galleries and exhibits. Sports fans are minutes away from Kansas City, which is home to some of the nation’s finest sports teams.

Overland Park Regional Medical Center is one of the facilities in the area that offers many professional opportunities. The 383-bed hospital offers acute medical services for its patients. The hospital campus features four medical office buildings and 100 physicians. 

Daniel Margolin, MD, is a general surgeon and founder of Physician Aesthetic Specialists in Lenexa, Kansas, 5 minutes from Overland Park. He grew up in Kansas City and practiced general surgery for 16 years. 

“The arts are really big here,” he says of the Kansas City area. “…My favorite thing to do in the Kansas City area is to go to concerts.”

Margolin is also a Kansas City Chiefs fan and mentions other professional teams such as the Kansas City Royals. In fact, Kansas City is the Soccer Capital of America. He adds: “And everyone knows it’s a BBQ city as well.”

Rochester, Minnesota

Home to the Mayo Clinic, Rochester is scenic with a relaxing pace and has tons of dining, shopping and entertainment.

Notable attractions for Rochester besides the Mayo Clinic include the Mayowood Historic Home, Quarry Hill Nature Center and the Plummer Building Historical Suite. It’s also home to over 100 city parks and 85 miles of bike paths.

Alice Gu, MD, MPH, a child and adolescent psychiatrist for PrairieCare’s Rochester location, says, “Rochester is a very family-friendly city with plenty of community events and places for kids to be kids. Summer is when Rochester really shines in the amount you can do with the family. Though winters can be cold, Rochester does a nice job embracing winters and still has winter activities and great indoor options. We are also fortunate to have access to the best medical care, and as luck would have it, our kids have needed specialized treatment that we are grateful to have access to.”

Activities Gu enjoys with her family are numerous: walking trails, eating pizza, exploring farmers’ markets and more. “In the colder months, we enjoy ice skating, snow shoeing, sledding, visiting the children’s museum, going to the trampoline park, going to the library, and going to an indoor playground,” she says.

Gu has lived all over the country, but primarily in Tennessee. She earned her medical degree at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and did her residency and fellowship at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital. 

PrairieCare Medical Group-Rochester has an intermediate level of care designed for assessment and stabilization for youth and adults struggling with mental illness. Their state-of-the-art space includes group therapy rooms, a classroom, a patient care station, a gross motor area and brilliant natural light. This design allows for an optimal healing environment conducive to treatment.

“I’m so lucky to have the team I work with,” she says. “I feel well-supported by my team members, and this place allows each of our expertise to have a meaningful role. No one role is above the other. The people and the well-oiled machine make it so that the collaboration and teamwork are seamless.” •