Hi, I’m Dr. Mark Gittins. I went into medicine because I really just liked to help people. I’ve kind of had that passion for quite a while. Since I was a young person, I have liked helping people in different areas.
As I went through things, I noticed I had a passion for science. And so putting those two together, where I had some science background and a desire to help people, it sure made medicine a desirable option for me.
My undergraduate college was at Anderson University in Anderson, Indiana. I did my master’s work at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, and then my medical school was at A.T. Still University in Kirksville, Missouri.
I chose my specialty in orthopedics because of what I like to do. I like activities, and I like the people in those activities. And so, initially, it started out with sports and recreation and those athletes.
But, as some of those athletes gain a few years, then we get more arthritic people. And so, I’ve enjoyed that part as well. So, I kind of have my younger group and my not-so-younger group that are still athletes.
I think the greatest enjoyment, as I see it, is when people come back and we’ve instituted a plan, and then that plan is followed through, and they see results. And usually, that’s an increase in their activity and a decrease in their pain.
I can sometimes just walk into the room where no words are exchanged, and I can tell we’ve been successful just by looking at their face. You can see they’re out of pain.
My work inspires me. It’s fun and it’s challenging. I’m still doing research, even at this part of my career. I’m still doing active research and looking for new ideas.
My family probably inspires me most of all by seeing them and how they interact in my field. My son has some science base, and some of the kids do as well.
But, just seeing them progress and being able to help them as they go into their own end of it, that’s probably most inspiring to see them take their very own footsteps.
