Dr. Kent Herbert is bringing the concept of “old fashioned values” to the practice of modern medicine.Herbert is opening his own clinic, Falcon Family Medicine, the first week of October. He has been a general physician since 2001. “I choose to be a general physician because it covers a full range of subjects,” he said. “It is not as in-depth as it is with specialists, but there is such a variety.””We envision the style of a small-town country doctor combined with the best type of medicine,” Herbert said. “It will be more personal.”Prior to medical school, Herbert was a high school science teacher – something that is somewhat of a tradition in his family. “My father recently retired as a high school science teacher,” he said. “And my brother also taught high school science for awhile.” Herbert said he loved being a teacher and finds that he can incorporate some of his experience as a teacher in his medical practice. “I think that doctors should not only try and help their patients manage their illness, but also teach them how to establish healthy habits,” he added.Herbert’s interest in science started in high school. He was born in Portland Ore., but grew up primarily in nearby Eugene, where he graduated from high school in 1985. His dad was his high school science teacher. “I had him two years – once for freshman biology and as a senior for advanced biology,” Herbert said. “I never knew what to call him – Dad? Mr. Herbert? So I would just raise my hand and say, ‘Can you please help me?'”After graduation, Herbert majored in biology at Stanford University in California. He would return home to Eugene for weekend visit with family and friends. It wasn’t long before those visits included a female. “I would go over to visit my best friend, Matt, and started to also visit with his little sister, Tiffany,” he said. “She was only three years younger than us.”They ended up dating, and two years after Herbert received an undergraduate degree from Stanford – in 1990 – the two were married. Tiffany was attending Portland State University to study psychology, and Herbert pursued his master’s degree in education from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore.In her last year of college, Tiffany became pregnant with the couple’s first child, Taylor. Although she graduated from Portland State in 1993, Tiffany decided after graduation to be a stay-at-home mom for a while.Herbert began his teaching career in Canby, Ore., just outside of Portland. “It was a small farming community,” he said. “We thought we would live there forever.” He said he had dreams of eventually becoming a high school principal, but he also had an interest in medicine. “I loved teaching, but I just had to see if I liked medicine.”In 1993, the couple’s second child, Mackenzie, was born. A year later, Herbert joined the United States Air Force to help pay for medical school. “Basically, I joined with the agreement of a four-year scholarship,” he said. “So all my education would be paid for, but when I was done, I had a four year commitment to complete with the Air Force.”He was accepted to the University of New Mexico’s medical school in Albuquerque. Herbert said he remembers that it was hard balancing his studies, finances and family life, but he still holds that time as some of his fondest memories. “We loved it there,” he said. “We did a lot of camping and other things as a family, somehow with very little money. It was a great time to find out what we liked to do.”In 1998, Herbert graduated from medical school and also became a father for a third time. He was able to defer his Air Force commitment for three years while he did his residency in family medicine as a civilian doctor practicing at St. Peter Hospital in Olympia, Wash.After completing his residency in 2001, Herbert returned to complete his military commitment with the Air Force when the family was assigned to Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas.Herbert said the lifestyle was quite a bit different from the upper west coast area. “[In the south], they do tend to live at a slower pace,” he said. Herbert also remembered that kids in Arkansas had a unique term they used in reference to shopping activities. Because Arkansas is the state headquarters to Wal-Mart, kids didn’t head to the local mall to go shopping. “The kids there would say, ‘Hey do you want to go ‘Wal-Marting?'”In the summer of 2004, the Herbert family packed their bags and moved to Falcon, where Herbert completed his military commitment at Schriever Air Force Base. He was originally assigned to serve at Peterson Air Force Base. “I served there one year and then signed on to serve an additional year in the Air Force and that’s when I switched to Schriever,” he said.After nearly three years of living in Falcon, Herbert decided he wanted to open his own clinic. “We looked at places farther east or in town [Colorado Springs], but figured people would not want to drive that far,” he said. “They will want to see someone who is right here.”Committed to making sure his patients receive the best care possible, he will offer 24-hour care as well as eventually making house calls. “I know that sometimes there are people who are just not able to come to see us, so I would like to try and go and see them,” he said. Other plans for the future include adding a female nurse practitioner. “I know a lot of people are frustrated with health care today,” said Herbert. “I want to develop a relationship with our patients and be able to get to know them and their families.”Falcon Family Medicine will open its doors on Oct. 2. The clinic is located next to Blockbuster in Falcon.A little more on Dr. HerbertWhat are you currently reading?I just finished reading “A Separate Peace.” My daughter had to read it for school, and I read it when I was in school. So I decided to read it again, along with my daughter.What do you like about Falcon or Colorado?We love that it is similar to where we grew up (in Oregon). We like the outdoors, and it’s comfortable. We are part of a smaller community, but close enough to a big city.What is your favorite sport?Well, we used to cheer for the Seattle Seahawks, but they weren’t very good for a long time so we started to cheer for the Denver Broncos.What is your favorite memory?Probably the time we spent living in Albuquerque, N.M. We were poor, but we did a lot of fun things like camping. We really found out what was important to us.
