Dr. Cory Offutt Returns to the Ozarks to Practice Medicine

Cory Offutt, MD

Cory Offutt always imagined that he would go into the medical field.

Raised in Lebanon, MO, Offutt’s strong suits in school were math and science.

“I had some personal healthcare issues that gave me the opportunity to experience the medical field,” Offutt said about his interest in a career in medicine.  Offutt’s older brother also pursued a career in healthcare, providing additional insight to the field.

Offutt graduated with honors from Missouri State University.  His undergraduate degree was in cell and molecular biology with minors in chemistry and healthcare management.

While a student at MSU, Offutt met the requirements to be in the Bryant Scholars Pre-Admissions program.  As a Bryant scholar, Offutt met certain academic achievement requirements, and he was a Missouri resident and an undergraduate at a Missouri university that participated in the Bryant Scholars program.

Offutt knew early on that he was pre-admitted to the University of Missouri School of Medicine in Columbia.  Before heading to MU, Offutt married his college sweetheart, Samantha.

The Offutts settled for four years in Columbia, and Cory Offutt did rotations through rural hospitals and clinics in the Ozarks as part of his training.

“My first family medicine rotation in medical school was not a good one,” Offutt said, “But I was really interested in pediatrics and obstetrics.”

Offutt liked the idea of providing care to a woman before pregnancy, during pregnancy, after pregnancy, and also caring for the newborn and other family members.

“There’s great continuity of care in taking care of pregnant women,” Offutt said.

Offutt originally thought he would pursue an obstetrics/gynecology residency after medical school, but he didn’t find an OB/GYN residency with “a good fit”.   The family medicine residency at the University of Missouri in Kansas City was a good fit, and Offutt had the opportunity to do a lot of obstetrical care, including surgical obstetrics to do Cesarean sections.

The UMKC program offers a fellowship in surgical obstetrics with an additional year of residency. Offutt pushed himself to gain extra, additional experience during his three-year residency stint, so a fellowship in OB wasn’t necessary at the end of three years.

“I didn’t want to wait another year to do the surgical OB fellowship,” Offutt said.  After all, undergraduate school, medical school and a traditional family medicine residency requires 10 years of training.

In his three years of residency, Offutt delivered 330 babies, and 150 of those deliveries were done by C-section.

“There was a lot of OB opportunity available to me,” Offutt said, “And I took advantage of it.”  Offutt delivered about 20 percent of the babies his class of 14 residents delivered total in their three years at UMKC.

Offutt’s training includes an additional American Academy of Family Physicians’ certification in women’s health.

When it came time to find a place to live and work after residency, Offutt knew it would be difficult to practice OB and do C-sections in a large hospital or town.  “Samantha and I were definitely open to a smaller town,” Offutt said.

Samantha Offutt grew up in Northwest Arkansas, so she enjoyed “small town feel” as well.

The Offutts first visited TCMH in January 2015 during Cory Offutt’s second year of residency.

“I definitely wanted to figure out where I was headed after residency as early as possible,” Offutt said.  He explained that he wanted to take advantage of any stipends that might be available for residents signing early and student loan repayment opportunities for healthcare providers.

“Houston was the first opportunity we looked at, and it had a feel that was different from the other places we looked at,” Offutt said.

Offutt described TCMH staff as “extremely welcoming”, and Cory and Samantha appreciated that during their TCMH interview both of them were included in all talks about the job position and the way of life in Texas County.

“I looked at other jobs, and I found that working here is the closest I can come to actually having a private practice without the headaches of managing my own private practice,” Offutt said.  He also liked “the security” available to a hospital-employed physician.

The Offutts thought Texas County was a nice location between Cory’s family in the Lebanon-area and Samantha’s family in Northwest Arkansas.

In February 2015, Cory Offutt signed an agreement to practice family medicine and obstetrics with Texas County Memorial Hospital.

The extra time between signing a contract with TCMH and finishing residency gave the Offutts plenty of time to hunt for and purchase a house in Texas County.

While Cory finished up his residency program, Samantha obtained an associate’s degree in graphic design to go along with her bachelor’s degree in marketing.  They also did minor repairs and fixed up their home in Lee’s Summit to sell it prior to moving to Texas County.

The TCMH Medical Complex in Houston is the primary base for Cory Offutt’s practice.  He is working there four days a week.  He also sees patients—primarily kids and obstetrics patients—at the TCMH Mountain Grove Clinic on Mondays.  While he’s building his practice in Houston, Offutt is taking some patients that come into the TCMH Walk In Clinic, too.

Offutt will deliver babies at TCMH, and he will admit and see inpatients at the hospital, too.

As a family medicine physician, Offutt will see patients of all ages from newborn to elderly.  He hopes to eventually have a large practice of families with lots of babies and kids.

“I like being able to watch families and kids grow, providing for all of the family’s healthcare needs,” Offutt said.

Offutt plans to squeeze kids into his practice schedule whenever they are sick, and established adult patients that are sick will have priority in his daily schedule, too.  Offutt’s office practice will include dermatological procedures, joint injections, and other minor procedures.

“I enjoy doing anything with my hands, so I really like doing procedures,” Offutt said.

Offutt plans to add stress testing to his medical repertoire once he is settled in to his new practice.  He also does some physician moonlighting in the hospital emergency department.

When Offutt is not working he enjoys spending time with Samantha.  Currently, the Offutts are busy unpacking and settling into their new home and the acreage they purchased in Texas County.  Their only child is Parker, a Yorkshire terrier, but they hope to add some human kids to their family soon.

“Samantha and I enjoy concerts and plays,” Offutt said.  “We like going to St. Louis Cardinals games when we can.”

Offutt thanked the hospital staff for being “extremely helpful” in helping him get started at TCMH, and he noted that community members he has encountered are very welcoming, too.

“We couldn’t have asked to be part of a better community,” Offutt said.  “We love living and working here.”

Wes Murray, chief executive officer at TCMH, is grateful that the Offutts chose TCMH.

“Our hospital and the community are fortunate to have Dr. Offutt and Samantha here,” Murray said.

Murray explained that Cory Offutt’s training will be an asset to the hospital.

“Dr. Offutt already knows a lot about the Ozarks because he grew up here,” Murray said.  “We are dedicated to helping him grow a practice here that can last for years to come.”

Appointments are available for Offutt at the TCMH Medical Complex in Houston at (417) 967-5435 or at the TCMH Mountain Grove Clinic at (417) 926-1770.