DO - Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine

Medicine on the
photo provided by Timothy G. Law, D.O.
Whether they’re bringing medicine to the deep rain forest, making house calls to uninsured
patients or tending to wounded in Iraq, Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine grads
are working on the “frontlines,” doing more than a small share of service. Their journeys are not
always ones they envisioned.
Not-So-Small-Town Doc
After a woman in a wheelchair showed up in
Timothy G. Law Sr.’s office with three family
members-–all of whom had to take the day off work to
get her there–he said that he would come to her next
time. And he did. The local hospital where he worked
thought he should be in
his office, not off visiting
patients, so Law, D.O. (‘94),
started to make house calls
on his time to housebound
locals and those without
health insurance. Twelve
years later, he still does–
every day.
Law eventually set up practice
so that, among other
things, house calls could be
a part of his services. In May
2001, he opened the Vine
Grove Family Clinic in Vine
Grove, Ky., a small town
with a population under
3,000–the kind of town that
has a main street called
Main Street and a real barber
shop. He drives a pickup so
he can haul his supplies and
carries an old-fashioned
leather bag; but the Mayberry image stops there.
“[This isn’t] a country bumpkin operation,” says Law,
who recently moved to a larger building on–where
else?–Main Street, treating everything from run-ofthe-mill
colds and hypertension one day, performing
minor surgery the next. He offers Botox treatments,
collagen injections and laser hair removal. He even has
a massage therapist on staff. And he delivers babies,
sometimes at home. Last May, for example, he traveled
to a local Amish community to deliver triplets.
His practice keeps him busy, yet once a week he also
helps out at Acutecare, an emergency medical service,
and for five years he has served on the board of the
Kentucky Osteopathic Medical Association (KOMA).
Come June, Law will become its president. Outgoing
President Michael Murphy, D.O., associate dean of
postgraduate education at Pikeville (Ky.) College of
Osteopathic Medicine, is pleased. “He’s an outstanding
individual, highly intelligent.” And, it seems, highly
motivated: “He was a captain in the Army, a body
builder–you just have to look at him to see that,” says
Murphy “He has successfully run a private practice in a
rural Kentucky town [and] been the program director for
two KOMA scientific programs that drew rave reviews.”
He drives a pickup and carries
an old-fashioned bag, but the
Mayberry image stops there.
Law’s journey into medicine started with an Ann
Landers column on osteopathic medicine. His mom
thought he might be interested, so she sent it to
him. After reading the column, Law decided to check
out OU-COM. At age 27, with a wife and two kids,
he went back to school once again. At the time, he
was teaching biology at the University of Pittsburgh,
where he earned a master’s in education. He also
had a bachelor’s in veterinary science (he thought
he’d be a farmer and a vet) from the University of
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Before settling into Vine
Grove, he completed his Army stint as a general medical
officer and traveled worldwide with the National
Karate Team–his children were competing–as team doc.
For now, Law is the only physician in town, and luckily
he has the approval of Edward Hand, M.D., the
doctor who served Vine Grove until his retirement in
1998. When Law opened his practice, Hand (“He
delivered most of my patients and their parents,” says
Law) gave him a call. Hand’s former patients had
been asking him if Law was a good doctor, so Hand
had to check him out for himself. In small towns like
Vine Grove, good news travels fast.
Timothy Law, D.O. ('94), structured his rural practice to allow for daily house calls.
28 www.oucom.ohio.edu