Medicine wasn’t always the career path that Vance Burns thought he’d follow, but whatever he did, he wanted to be in a career where he met people.
“I grew up on a farm and I wanted to work in a field where I could combine meeting people with fixing things. I am blending science, humanities and the arts, and I want to stay connected to people and patients. Those connections are important.”
Dr. Burns was serving in the United States Air Force on September 11, 2001, and was soon deployed overseas. That experience helped solidify his interest in pulmonology.
“During that time, I was working as an internal medicine doctor. Part of that was running ventilators and life support, working with combat wounded and critically ill people. After I got home, I pursued a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care at the University of Kansas.”
Why should patients get care at LMH Health? Dr. Burns said that’s easy – it’s a health system where your providers know you.
“As a patient, I want to go someplace where they know me by memory, not what’s typed on my chart. LMH Health is just the right size. When there’s a place that’s too big, you start to lose connections. It it’s too small, you start to lose technical ability. LMH is just the right mix of both.”
Anytime you’re going to craft a treatment, it doesn’t occur in a vacuum. I've got the technical knowledge, and then I must incorporate that for my patient and how they’re going to respond to what’s happening. Most pulmonary problems are long-term problems, so if I can get to know someone for who they are and more than just their problems, I'm going to do a better job as a clinician.
- Vance Burns, MD
University of Kansas Medical Center
Internal Medicine
University of Iowa - Des Moines
Pulmonology and Critical Care
University of Kansas
Critical Care
Hospice and Pallative Care
Internal Medicine
Pulmonology
University of Kansas
Human Biology
University of Iowa - Des Moines
Internal Medicine
