As a pediatrician, Dr. William Jones has great respect for parents.
“Most don’t realize what an awesome job they are doing,” he said. “Especially brand-new parents who probably haven’t slept more than three hours.”
Jones’ specialty is from newborns to young adults, “though I don’t have a strict cut-off date. I look forward to families thinking this is their medical home, no matter their age.”
Jones began with the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas in October. This is his first position out of a three-year residency program at Omaha’s Children’s Hospital through the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
His decision to pursue pediatrics began with a general interest in all-things science, a love of children, and the ability to determine what really rocked his boat.
“Growing up, I loved dogs. As a family we had trained a therapy dog. So, naturally, I thought I wanted to be a veterinarian,” he said.
An experience job shadowing a veterinarian, however, convinced him otherwise. A postmortem examination for heart worms “was a horrible, traumatic experience,” he said. “I think I just like playing with dogs and cats.”
As a student at Kansas State University, Jones was accepted into its engineering program, which seemed like a natural segue after a high school career filled with science and math classes, clubs and competitions.
But after one year in the engineering program, “I was like, I don’t love this,” he said. “I missed the life sciences. Even in high school I’d sign up for electives in anatomy and physiology. I was a nerd — and I loved it. I loved studying animals and plants.”
So, with the slate wiped clean, “I randomly signed up for a genetics class.”
And, bingo.
“I loved it. It was so much fun.”
Because K-State doesn’t offer a degree in genetics, Jones opted for one in biology.
“Which is generally useless,” he quipped, other than being a terrific launching pad for medical school.
Encouraged to explore his options after he graduated from KSU in 2015, Jones shadowed at a hospital in Manhattan. That might have been a good experience, except the only slot available was Friday nights in the emergency room. In a college town.
“So yeah, I saw a lot of drunk people. It was horrible.”
Veterinarian. No dice.
ER physician. No way.
To the rescue came mom.
“She was good friends with my pediatrician growing up and asked if I could shadow her.”
Well, kind of.
Jones’ mother is a professor at the School of Health Professions at KU Medical Center and Jones’s former pediatrician, Dr. Pamela Shaw, is now a professor of pediatrics at the University of Kansas Medical Center and associate dean for medical education.
