He's sleeping like a baby now
By Brandy Nance
Originally published 12:00 p.m., February 14, 2009
Updated 02:08 p.m., February 18, 2009
Dr. James Glenn followed in his father’s footsteps by entering the medical profession and spent decades practicing in Emporia until he retired at the first of this year.
Glenn came to Emporia in July 1973, fresh out of residency at KU Medical Center in Kansas City, to work in private practice.
He came here with his wife, Jacqueline, whom he married in 1962. She had grown up in Wichita, and he in Protection. They have one daughter and two grandchildren.
Glenn’s roots, though, are in Emporia, his mother’s hometown. She left to teach out-of-town in 1934, and his grandparents moved from here to California in 1950.
“So I knew a little about Emporia,” Glenn said.
He attended Southwestern College in Winfield, then moved to Houston, where he attended Baylor College of Medicine and graduated in 1966. Following medical school he served in the Navy for two years as a general medical officer. He then became interested in orthopedic practice and completed his four-year residency at KU before he moved to Emporia.
“By that time I had four years of medical school, two years of the Navy and four years in residency and I finally started to work,” Glenn said, with a laugh.
His career choice came naturally.
“My father was a general practitioner,” Glenn said. “I respected a lot what he did. And I just generally liked science and biology. I pretty much blew with the wind.”
For 33 years, Glenn practiced surgery in Emporia, until about two years ago when the practice dissolved. Glenn went to work for Tallgrass Orthopedic & Sports Medicine and continued to practice orthopedics but gave up surgery.
Throughout his years of practicing, the medical field has changed drastically, Glenn said. Orthopedics has changed a lot from just doing fracture treatments and treatment of deformities to joint replacements. In 1963 and 1964 total hip replacements made their debut.
“That has evolved into all kinds of joint replacements,” Glenn said.
The face of medicine changed as well.
“In my time the momentous change was April 10, 1965, as a third-year residency student, the Medicare law was enacted,” Glenn said.
Bone growth stimulation is another advancement in orthopedics.
“All of this is being created both from natural and lab sources,” Glenn added.
Genetic profiles and human genome technology will help the orthopedic field as well, Glenn said.
There are many challenges facing the medical field in the future. Glenn said orthopedics is a very laborious job and most of it takes place at night. It is hard on physicians, especially when they get called in on cases at all hours of the night.
There is a great need for more physicians and orthopedic surgeons, especially those who are willing to be on call.
“It’s been increasingly difficult for orthopedics even in cities,” Glenn said. “Even worse than that, general surgeons are in short supply. That’s becoming a crisis.”
Recruitment is becoming a major challenge as the economy pushes medical personnel into larger cities.
“Ever the metro areas aren’t easy to recruit for,” he said.
Glenn said about two-thirds of graduates in Kansas leave the state whether it’s to pursue a residency or take a job.
“Much of it is due to the economy,” he said. “You can make more money in (bigger) cities.”
Glenn said he hopes this trend turns around, adding that people in smaller communities deserve the same quality of care as people in larger communities.
Glenn said he enjoyed his job, especially when he hears from patients who have success stories to tell and want to thank him.
“You enjoy the patients and are interested with making them better,” he said. “Without a doubt that’s the most important thing there is.”
• The public is invited to Glenn’s retirement reception from 2 to 3 p.m. Feb. 25 in the cafeteria at Newman Regional Health.