TCMH Healthcare Foundation Awards Scholarships to Area Students
August 3, 2018
Karen Ducker is July Employee of the Month
August 10, 2018
Douglas Crase, MD, born in Duluth, MN, had the opportunity to live in a variety of different places around the world including Missouri, Oklahoma, and Germany, to name a few. Growing up with a father in the Air Force, it was not uncommon for Crase and his family to move around. Now Crase is ready to settle down in Texas County and make Licking his home.
Through all of his living experiences, Crase always knew he wanted to live and work in a rural area. Crase began his healthcare career by attending Rolla Technical Center (RTC) to work on a certificate in radiological technology.
As part of his schooling at RTC, Crase spent time working at Texas County Memorial Hospital as a student. Once he completed his certification, he started working full-time as a radiologic technologist in the TCMH radiology department.
Crase worked the evening shift and nearly every weekend so that he could continue his education. He enrolled at Missouri State University (MSU) in January of 2008 and completed a bachelor’s degree in radiography in December of 2010.
“Prior to attending Missouri State, I never expected to become a doctor,” Crase said. He added, “I knew when I started there that I wanted to move back to a rural area and work in healthcare.”
Crase explained that people encouraged him to become a radiologist because that is what he was good at, but Crase knew he could not become a radiologist and live in a community that was small enough to allow him and Barbara to be completely happy.
Most radiologists are employed by large healthcare systems and they interpret the digital images from all over the United States. Very few small hospitals employ their own radiologists because it saves a lot of money to contract with outside agencies, and the results are nearly instantaneous due to the digital images and 24/7 coverage. All of those factors contribute to better patient care.
Crase also considered becoming a physician assistant (PA), but when he discussed this option with Dr. Jeffrey Kerr, the TCMH emergency department director at the time, Kerr encouraged Crase to consider becoming a doctor.
“Dr. Kerr explained that if I wanted to have complete autonomy in the care of my patients, then I needed to become a doctor,” Crase said. He explained, “I think that was his way of telling me that being a PA wasn’t what I really wanted, so he pushed me towards the medical doctor (MD) route.”
Crase explained that the road to becoming a doctor was longer than the one towards becoming a PA, but for him, it made sense.
After a radiological technologist certification from RTC, 11 years in the radiology department at TCMH, and a bachelor’s degree from MSU, Crase moved to Columbia to attend the University of Missouri School of Medicine.
In June of 2018, Crase officially graduated after he completed his family medicine residency through Wesley Family Medicine in Wichita, KS. Crase is now a board-certified family medicine doctor and he specializes in obstetrics.
Crase has returned to Texas County to serve the communities that launched his career in healthcare and started him down a journey of getting to help others.
“I try to do the best job I can for each one of my patients. I will offer the best advice I can, and hopefully help my patients make the best possible decisions for their own health,” Crase explained.
Crase explained that he really enjoys taking care of people and the problem-solving aspect of being a doctor. He also enjoys taking care of student athletes who acquire sports medicine types of injuries.
“We are very pleased to have a full-time physician in Licking again,” Wes Murray, TCMH chief executive officer explained. “It will be great for the community of Licking to have two different providers they can see, one of them now providing OB care.”
Together at the TCMH Family Clinic in Licking, Crase and Whitney Hall, PA-C, will work alongside each other proving care for Licking residents and the surrounding communities.
“I am excited to settle down, be done with school, and settle back into the flow of things,” Crase explained.
Crase and his wife Barbara have two adult children, Isaac and Kassandra. Isaac currently works as a glazer, and Kassandra hopes to become a veterinary technician. They also have a dog named Sandy.
Barbara Greer of Edgar Springs and Crase met while Crase was attending RTC. He decided to take his friends’ suggestion and go on a blind date with a special girl who he didn’t know much about. Little did he know at the time, that one date would change his life forever. Today, Crase and Barbara have been married for 21 years.
In his free time, Crase enjoys playing complex board games, fishing, and hunting. Barbara likes to paint ceramics and be around animals, particularly her Missouri Fox Trotter horses.
Family time is important to both Crase and Barbara. They plan to host visiting friends and family at their new place nestled between Houston and Licking for years to come. We’ve heard that the fishing there isn’t too bad either.
The TCMH Family Clinic in Licking is currently scheduling patients for Crase. To make an appointment or to find out more information, please call the clinic at (573) 674-3011.