For Jordan Saunders, DO, VCOM-Virginia ‘22, the journey to family medicine began long before medical school.
Raised in Roanoke, Virginia, he discovered early in high school that medicine aligned with both his interests and his values. Drawn to science fairs and inspired by watching his father serve patients as a respiratory therapist, he also accompanied his grandfather, who had diabetes, to medical appointments. Those visits gave him a close-up view of how physicians guide patients through complex health challenges.
“There wasn’t one big ‘aha’ moment,” he says about deciding to become a physician. “It was more that everything seemed to line up.”
Discovering Osteopathic Medicine
He knew he wanted to do his undergraduate education at Virginia Tech but didn’t know anything about VCOM or osteopathic medicine when he arrived in Blacksburg. As his interest in medicine grew, Dr. Saunders attended a VCOM-Virginia open house where he learned about the osteopathic philosophy and got his first glimpse of osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT). That was his introduction to osteopathic medicine—and it resonated immediately.
“When I heard that the body is a unit—mind, body, and spirit—that was congruent with my Christian faith,” he says. “You don’t neglect parts of the person when you’re treating them.”
That whole-person philosophy became the foundation of his medical education and continues to shape his daily practice. He intentionally speaks with patients not only about their physical health, but also about the emotional and spiritual dimensions of their lives—caring for the whole person, not just symptoms.
That philosophy is also in keeping with his interest in family medicine, which he knew throughout his VCOM journey would be his chosen specialty. He enjoys the breadth of the specialty and becoming deeply knowledgeable about his patients—and sometimes whole families.
A Community Invests in Its Future
To help alleviate the need for primary care physicians in the region, the Tazewell Community Foundation partnered with VCOM to make a scholarship available to a student who agreed to practice as a primary care physician and return to the region after residency to practice.
“Providing access to high-quality healthcare for the citizens of Tazewell County is one of our top priorities,” said Chris Wearmouth, President of the Tazewell Community Foundation. “Having access to primary healthcare results in lower healthcare spending and improved health outcomes for our community.”
According to Dr. Saunders, “The Tazewell Community Foundation Scholarship reduced a tremendous burden,” he says. “It alleviated stress for our family and made me feel like I was part of something bigger.”
Just as he’d promised, Dr. Saunders completed his family medicine residency at East Tennessee State University, and earlier this year returned to practice in Tazewell. He already sees the depth of need. “Some of our patients drive an hour to see us,” he says. “It’s been hard for many to access care. Specialists can be difficult to find, so sometimes we manage conditions ourselves that might otherwise be referred out.”
The investment the foundation made in Dr. Saunders was a direct investment in the health of the Tazewell community.
“The community rallied to create these resources because they believe physicians trained this way will do a good job here,” Dr. Saunders says. “It feels important to be trusted in that way.”
In Tazewell, Dr. Saunders is doing exactly what he set out to do—caring for entire families, managing complex conditions locally, and serving a community that invested in his future. His story demonstrates how scholarship support becomes access to care and turns generosity into healthier futures for families across Southwest Virginia.
