Mountains + medicine
Posted: May 13, 2014
“I am strongest and most effective when working within in my community,” says Martin Peters, DO, ’13. “I am an Oregonian—born and raised.”
Although the majority of his time is spent fulfilling his family medicine residency at The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education in Portland, Dr. Peters immerses himself with a full agenda of extracurricular activities, like volunteering for Outside In and Health Bridges International, both community-based organizations aimed at bettering lives and helping people in need.
“I was able to stay local for medical school and my residency, so I am fortunate to have remained deeply involved with thesesame organizations,” he explains.
Dr. Peters also is an outdoor enthusiast.
“As a medical student and resident, I have had the chance to practice wilderness and sports medicine with Mountain Emergency Services at Mount Hood Meadows,” says Dr. Peters. “I am almost finished with a fellowship in wilderness medicine and have halfway completed a diploma in mountain medicine.”
In 2010, Dr. Peters’ passion for wilderness and medical education was shared with Arizona campus students through a medical club he founded called Still Wild. Still Wild took students on medical expeditions—like climbing the nearly 14,000-foot Mount Humphreys in Flagstaff—to practice high altitude osteopathic manipulative treatment.
Long-term, Dr. Peters hopes to become an attending for his residency program at The Wright Center and work in the community health center. Because of his love of outdoor adventure, he also would like to direct the health center’s growing wilderness path, where he would lead residents and medical students into the back country of Oregon while teaching wilderness medical skills.
Says Dr. Peters, “Overall, my goal was to combine my interests in foreign language, outdoor adventure, and community development into one super career.”