New OB/GYN specialist joins FirstHealth Richmond Medical Group
| Date Posted: 8/1/2011
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Donald Jones, M.D. |
ROCKINGHAM – Describe it as a calling. Donald Jones, M.D., certainly would.
Beyond that, he is hard pressed to explain why he gave up a successful career as a scientist to go to medical school.
“I enjoy it all,” says Dr. Jones, who recently became the fifth specialist in obstetrics and gynecology at FirstHealth Richmond Medical Group – Women’s Center, “but I’ve always liked medicine and people.”
Dr. Jones grew up on the “Space Coast” of Florida, in the shadow of the American space exploration program, and earned his B.S. degree in chemistry from Florida’s Stetson University in Deland. Graduate work later took him to Atlanta and Emory University for a Ph.D. in physical chemistry.
He then spent three years in Cincinnati, Ohio, working as a scientist in General Electric’s Stealth technologies aircraft engine program before deciding to heed the calling of medicine and medical school. He earned his M.D. from Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine in Rootstown.
Like many young physicians-in-training, Dr. Jones chose his area of specialization during his medical school clinical rotations.
“I especially liked family practice and surgery,” he says. “This (OB/GYN) combines the best of both worlds.”
After completing his OB/GYN residency at Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville, Dr. Jones spent two years practicing general obstetrics and gynecology with a special interest in high-risk obstetrics and infertility at Central Brevard OB/GYN in Rockledge, Fla. He returned to North Carolina at the encouragement of his wife, a nurse he met during his Greenville, N.C., residency. She was raised in Chocowinity, near North Carolina’s little Washington, and wanted to raise their young family closer to home.
“You can take the girl out of North Carolina, but you can’t take North Carolina out of the girl,” Dr. Jones says.
The Joneses have three daughters ages 13, 10 and 9.
Before joining FirstHealth Richmond Medical Group – Women’s Center, Dr. Jones spent 13 years with Union Obstetrics and Gynecology in Monroe, a practice affiliated with Carolinas Medical Center, delivering about 150 babies a year. The opportunity to practice medicine in a small town and establish lifelong relationships with his patients brought him to Richmond County and FirstHealth Richmond Medical Group – Women’s Center, where he joins four other OB/GYN specialists: Angela Morrison, M.D.; Yolanda Newton, M.D.; Mohamed Ibrahim, M.D.; and Nasser Askary, M.D.
“I’m very happy to be a member of the fine medical staff at Richmond Memorial Hospital and thrilled to be part of this organization,” Dr. Jones says. “I look forward to working with the experienced nursing staff at the hospital and the friendly and helpful staff at the Women’s Center. This is a very pleasant and welcoming community, and I look forward to getting my practice built up quickly.”
FirstHealth Richmond Medical Group – Women’s Center is located at 921 Long Drive, Suite 207, Rockingham. To make an appointment with Donald B. Jones, M.D., or any of the other OB/GYN specialists, call (910) 417-3477.
FirstHealth Richmond Memorial Hospital is a division of FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital.
