More than just a stethoscope

“For [physicians], something you really want to do is see people. Your job is to listen, your job is to look, your job is to touch, and your job is to feel,” said Dr. Robert Boyd, physician in the primary care ward at Alvin C. York VA Medical Center.

Working in osteopathic medicine, Boyd works with Veterans daily. Throughout his entire career in medicine, he has believed that to best serve and provide world class care, doctors need to know more about their patients than what is on the clipboard. Boyd emphasized that to better understand and know his Veterans allow him to provide the best path to treatment.  

"It’s not your computer, and it’s not your books. It’s what you learn about that person,” said Boyd, who also teaches doctors in residency at TVHS. “Because everything that happens, no matter how close it is to a book, is still individualized to that person.”

Boyd’s candor and care for Veterans has existed his entire life. His grandfather served in World War II; his father served in the Navy from 1945 through the Korean War; his oldest brother served in Vietnam; his cousin served in the Air National Guard; and his wife, Dr. Joann Neubauer, served in the Army. It is his connection to the military that drives Boyd to provide the best individualized care to his Veterans.

“How do I know what your heart's doing if I don’t listen to it? How do I know what your lungs are doing if I don’t listen to them?” asked Boyd. “If I don’t look at your whole body, I may not find the obvious thing that’s giving you the issue you’re [concerned about].”

During his life, Boyd has seen the growth and development of VA care for Veterans. He attended his father's VA appointments in the 1970s and 1980s, and then was accepted into VA’s internal medicine residency program in El Paso in 1995.

Boyd had taken the residency course at VA to be closer to Neubauer who had been stationed at William Beaumont Army Medical Center at Fort Bliss, Texas. It was a rare opportunity for Boyd to work at VA, because he was able to provide care to active-duty soldiers and their families, along with Veterans and retirees. After Boyd and Neubauer finished their residencies, Boyd continued to work for the Army as a private contractor at William Beaumont Army Medical Center.
After serving in the Army for nine years, Neubauer left the military, and the couple moved into private practice in Minnesota. They took the skills developed from the Army and VA to offer support and care to patients in the rural town they called home.

For 20 years, Boyd and Neubauer practiced in Minnesota before moving to middle Tennessee to work at TVHS in 2020. 
When he returned to VA in 2020, he was glad to see that more Veterans were eligible for different types of services.
“I can recall several times in 1995, where Veterans would come in and ask, ‘Can you do this?’ I would go to my attending physician and ask, ‘Can we do this?’ If it’s not service connected, I had to tell them to make an appointment for non-service connected [issue],” Boyd said about the residency program at El Paso VA. 

Today, with the PACT Act, mental health care, specialty care, social programs, and more, Veterans have access to more world class treatment available at TVHS. These programs and services mean that Boyd can spend more time with each Veteran and recommend the best treatment plan they are eligible for.

“I don’t care what you come in here for. I can take care of you,” he said. “I don’t care if you’re [rated] 120%, or if you’re [rated] 0%. I get to treat you as a person.”

Have you heard of the “My Life, My Story” program? Writers from TVHS interview Veterans, with their permission, to record brief histories of their life and service. Each Veteran’s “My Life, My Story” becomes part of their medical record and helps their medical team better understand and provide world class care to them. As Dr. Boyd said, the more we can know about a Veteran the better we can take care of them.
If you are a Veteran and interested in “My Life, My Story” please contact tvhmylifemystory@va.gov.