Dr. Jones is an Associate Professor in the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Emergency Medicine.
Interview by Krishna Vellanki and Ethan Clement
What brought you to Medicine?
My father was an attorney, so I used to want to be a lawyer like my daddy. I think the thing that turned me to medicine was my baby brother. He experienced a febrile seizure, and I did not know what they were at the time. It scared me to death. I remember being young, on a softball field, and all of a sudden my mother calls out to my father. I turned around, and my baby brother was flopping like a fish in her lap.
From that time on, I knew I wanted to know what was happening. I felt like in that moment, had I understood what was happening, I would have been a bit more comforted. I knew I wanted to be able to give that comfort to patients, just like my family needed with my brother. I knew I had the desire to help people by sharing knowledge with patients. This is what persuaded me to choose a path in medicine.
What was your path through medicine?
I was a very traditional student up through residency. I went to undergrad at Howard and medical school at Harvard. I really enjoyed Harvard because people were very cordial and everybody wanted to work together. Everyone came from these amazing backgrounds and they brought a lot of unique perspectives and skills to the table. Right after medical school, I went into residency and did my internship year. Since I had a Health Professions scholarship for medical school, after my intern year I went into active duty in the Air Force and served for four years as a flight surgeon. After that, I returned to finish my residency in emergency medicine.
Why emergency medicine?
I was drawn toward emergency medicine because I liked to take care of many types of people, including those who were very sick. I really enjoyed taking care of high acuity cases. I realized during my clinical rotations that it didn’t grab my interest to tweak blood pressure medications or do follow up visits. I found myself reading about, and even wanting to stay late on rotations, when I was caring for really sick people.
I love the emergency department for the fact that I never know who’s going to walk in through the doors. As an emergency room (ER) doctor, my day is never planned. Not many other specialties come into their shift not knowing if it will be completely bananas or if they will even have time to go to the bathroom. I love having to think on my feet and knowing there is no day like the previous one or the next one. As ER doctors, we are known as the “jack of all trades and master of none.” We can stabilize many patients whatever their ailments —which is pretty cool—and finish the idiom “still better than a master of one”.
I think emergency medicine is a unique in that you have to establish rapport with patients pretty fast. In addition, usually when we see people, it is not their best day. Coming to the emergency room is not routine for these patients. The situation lends itself to be a puzzle looking for a solution. I love digging into these puzzles, trying to figure out why someone is there while also establishing a relationship with them. I also feel I can give people a little peace about the circumstance in which they find themselves. I am able to educate them as to what is going on and at the same time say, “I’m here with you.” It has been really rewarding. I often think, “You know, I really made a difference here today.”
What was military service like? How did it differ from civilian service?
I was a flight surgeon, which is kind of a fancy title for a primary care doctor for pilots and their families. While I was stateside, it was very much like a clinic. The pilots were always the healthiest; otherwise, they could not fly. In terms of what I was treating, it wasn’t too complex medically. Now, some of their family members might have had a few more issues, but essentially I practiced outpatient medicine with very stable, healthy folks.
Then 9/11 happened and I had to deploy overseas. It is incredibly stressful being away from your family for long periods, especially with the heightened awareness that arises because you are in a war zone. Every time I left my living facility for the clinic, I had a gun strapped to me. I didn’t grow up carrying guns everywhere, but on deployment that was a requirement because one never know what might happen.
While in Afghanistan, I started to take care of the people who were sicker. I was responsible for all the Air Force personnel on the base. Naturally, I saw more cases of acute trauma. The nature of the Air Force put some people in harm’s way, on the front line, especially pilots and those embedded in the Army security forces. A few times, I was called to the hospital to take care of one of my pilots. It was in the Air Force that I started to be drawn towards pre-hospital medicine where taking care of people happened frontline in an unsure environment.
When you came back stateside, did you ever encounter something that felt like war?
I was at the finish line when the Boston Marathon bombing occurred. It was during my EMS fellowship. Boston EMS runs tents at the finish line—Alpha and Bravo tents—and I was the doctor in charge of Bravo tent. I heard the explosion and people scattering.
Because I was stateside, my first thought wasn’t “that was a bomb.” It took a minute for me to realize it was. I had been at war, but it took me a moment to flip my mindset again. Before I could think, things became chaotic. However, because Boston EMS was so extensively trained they had a plan for potential disasters like this one. My confusion quickly turned to pride as I watched my team fall back on their training. They quickly went into disaster mode and knew exactly what to do and how to do it. What really mattered was the training that the EMS people I worked with that day put to use. During chaotic situations, you resort to your training, and my team knew what they were supposed to do. This undoubtedly saved a bunch of lives.
I remember getting texts from my husband, because he was frantic. Once he heard I was okay, he said, “Do your thing.” I ended up going to church after things settled down, because they were having a service and I needed to decompress. It was there that I processed what had just happened. I had my little moment to cry. I remember still being in my uniform, with my big highlighter yellow jacket on. I found it nice to be around others who were also shaken by what had just happened. After my moment I knew I still had work to do; I started covering shifts for coworkers that could not get to the hospital because the city went on lockdown. This was a pivotal moment for me.
How have these experiences affected your role in medicine? What about your role in COVID?
I am the medical director for disaster preparedness and emergency response at the Arkansas Health Department. What I am primarily charged with doing is making sure our state’s disaster plans are up to date. Given that I am the medical expert, I make sure that these plans make medical sense. As far as COVID goes, even before the COVID pandemic we had a pandemic flu plan. We had plans for several other infectious scenarios, as well.
Still, COVID threw a wrench into the world of disaster planning because there is theory and then there is actuality. The early days of the pandemic, early March and April 2020, those were really long days. My job during COVID was multifold as I worked with the National Guard to develop plans for an alternative care facility should our hospitals become overloaded. I also worked with MEMS to create a system to transport and appropriately disperse COVID patients. Additionally, I developed guidelines for Arkansas’ physicians to provide guidance about the pandemic in community sites like gyms, barbershops, nail salons, and churches.
Where is your next step in medicine and in life?
One of the things I like about emergency medicine is that we see so many social issues reflected in people’s complaints. I would like to spend some time focusing on these social issues. I would like to be able to give real support and assistance to people outside of the emergency department I would like to focus more on population health and health care policy than just treating the individual in front of me.
That work keeps things exciting right now. I sometimes get frustrated by conditions that really need more than us sticking a Band-Aid on them, and in the future I hope to broaden my scope of attention.
Outside of my career, I love to dance so I have started to teach a fitness class.
And your husband? We understand he is running for Governor.
That is right. Chris is running for governor. The campaigning side of things has been fun when I get to accompany him. For example, last Tuesday, February 22 I was at the filing day. I didn’t realize filing day was such a big thing—it was a huge deal! The capital was full of people, all seeking office or seeking reelection, all signing their paperwork. There was press everywhere. I was happy that I could be there with my husband.
He has been so busy, and I am, too. I will be in the emergency department one night, back at the health department again the next day, and then back to meetings at UAMS to discuss the post-bac program. Plus, we have three girls. My life is constantly moving!
What has been most meaningful about your work?
From a personal standpoint, I have always desired to help people. Particularly in emergency medicine, we don’t meet people on their greatest days. Yet, we in EM have a special window to both address patients’ medical needs and, in a spiritual sense, address their emotional needs. That can be pretty moving, pretty powerful.
For those patients who are admitted, what we do and how we do it in the emergency department sets them up to have a better experience in the hospital. I think this work takes a certain type of personality, and I feel blessed to be able to do that.
Externally, I think it important that people coming to the emergency department sense a feeling of connection. I find this especially meaningful, here in Little Rock, with African American patients. Many times, African American patients come in, often frightened, and then they see me. They tell me just how proud of me they are. While they may not be in the same situation, that gives them hope. It also sustains me.
My work at the Arkansas Department of Health gives me satisfaction from a systems perspective. In my meetings there, I enjoy bringing the perspective of a “worker bee”. I am able to bring the perspective of a frontline health care professional. That’s great!
For anyone in health care, especially those new to the field—students and trainees—I say, “Trust the process.” All of the experiences that are put in your path, they are there for a purpose. Take those experiences in and try to learn from them. They will help you become the best practitioner, the best parent, the best partner you can be.