HDH welcomes Dr. Eva McCarthy

Harney District Hospital (HDH) is pleased to welcome Dr. Eva McCarthy, DO, who will begin seeing patients at HDH Family Care on Sept. 12.

Some may recognize Dr. McCarthy from when she completed a four-week elective clinical rotation at HDH in October 2015. For those that haven’t had a chance to meet her, we asked her to tell us about herself and her role.

Where are you from?
I was born in and adopted from South Korea, but I grew up in the Pacific Northwest. My family has lived on a small farm outside of Corvallis since 1990 (prior to that we lived in Seattle).

What inspired you or influenced your decision to become a doctor?
My biggest inspiration to become a doctor was shadowing and volunteering with family medicine physicians during college who loved their jobs and found great satisfaction in having long-term relationships with their patients. I thought medicine, specifically primary care, would be a great field for me because I enjoy talking to people and helping them solve difficult problems.

Where did you receive your education? What does it mean to be a Doctor of Osteopathy (DO)?
I received my degree from Des Moines University in Iowa, which is the second oldest osteopathic medical school in the country. Osteopathy or Osteopathic medicine was historically created as an additional approach to medicine that focuses on the body’s own ability to heal itself. During medical school, DOs receive additional rigorous training in osteopathic manipulative medicine that involves hands-on treatment of the musculoskeletal, soft tissue and cranial systems that can be very useful to treating a large variety of medical conditions. I think that being a Doctor of Osteopathy provides me with additional skills to view and treat my patients as a whole, thus providing comprehensive care.

What attracted you to come back to HDH to practice medicine?
HDH is a unique practice that supports the relationships that patients have with their doctors and the local medical community, and recognizes the important role that this plays in medicine, which is something that I could not find elsewhere. I came back to practice medicine here because of the outstanding people (hospital staff and patients) that I met during my elective rotation and the happiness that I felt while working with this team.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
My husband and I enjoy a variety of outdoor recreational activities in our free time, specifically biking, canoeing, camping, cross country skiing and backpacking – all of which we enjoy doing with our 8-year-old dog, Dessy.

What are you most looking forward to about living and working in Harney County?
I am most looking forward to making new friends within the community and becoming part of a great team at Harney District Hospital!