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James Everett McDowell, M.D. Phone: (276) 783-8123 James McDowell is a board-certified family physician with added qualifications in sports medicine. He is the founder and president of Smyth County Family Physicians in Marion, Virginia. Dr. McDowell is one of three family medicine doctors in the practice. The other two physicians Drs. Brown and Stiefel also precept through GMEC. Dr. McDowell was born in Rockville Centre, New York, on May 5, 1947. He and his wife, Alice (a pediatrician), have two children - John, 25, and Susan, 22. Dr. McDowell's personal interests include gardening, coaching, and church mission work. Through the First United Methodist Church in Marion, he has participated in missions to Haiti, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida, primarily helping repair housing damaged by hurricanes. Dr. McDowell received a BS degree from Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina in 1969. He earned an MD degree from the Medical College of Virginia at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia in 1973. He was elected into the AOA Honorary Academic Organization. Dr. McDowell completed a three-year Family Practice residency program in 1976 at the Medical College of Virginia. He was named Outstanding Family Practice Resident that same year. From 1976 to 1978, he served in the U.S. Army at Martin Army Hospital in Fort Benning, Georgia. Dr. McDowell rose to the rank of Major at the time of his discharge and he received the U.S. Army Commendation Award. He moved to Marion in 1978, where he established Smyth County Family Physicians.
There are 10 exam rooms on the premises at Smyth County Family Physicians. Services include a medical laboratory of moderate complexity, simple x-ray procedures, emergency care, and minor surgical procedures (colposcopies, endometrial biopsies, orthopedics, wound care, and excisions). Patients are referred for other services to Smyth County Community Hospital, which is about 300 yards from the practice site. Dr. McDowell sees 24-30 patients a day in the office and occasionally visits patients in their homes. Dr. McDowell acts as official physician for several local high school teams. Having been in Marion for more than 20 years, his practice has matured to include many adults and older adults. About 20% of Dr. McDowell's patients are infants, children, or adolescents; 40% are adults between the ages of 20 and 65; and 40% are older adults. By payment mechanism, he estimates that 45% of his patients are covered by Medicaid or Medicare, 45% have commercial insurance, and 10% are uninsured.
Residents who train with Dr. McDowell may stay in cabins on the lake at nearby Hungry Mother State Park or in some cottages in downtown Marion owned by patients of Smyth County Family Physicians. The Southwest Mental Health Institute has refurbished a wing into efficiency apartments and residents may stay there. Residents may also choose to stay in local hotels Budget Host, Best Western, or EconoLodge. GMEC can try to locate other furnished houses or apartments for residents, but we cannot guarantee results because short-term rentals are hard to secure in rural areas. Smyth County Community Hospital is a 176-bed acute care facility with a broad range of services emergency, inpatient and outpatient care, intensive care, surgery and anesthesia, obstetrics, radiology, imaging, cardiopulmonary rehabilitation, laboratory, nutrition, physical therapy, pharmacy, and home health. The hills and hollows of Smyth County's landscape are divided into three valleys by the crests of Iron, Walker, and Little Mountains. Branches of the Holston River drain each valley. The town of Marion (pop. 6,630) lies in the middle of the central valley in Smyth County. Quiet homesteads, pastured hills, and patches of dense forest characterize the local landscape. Major elements of the economy are manufacturing, transfer payments (retirement pensions, disability income, and welfare benefits) retail trade, personal services, and tobacco and stock farming. In 1995, the largest employers were Utility Trailer (truck trailers), Dana Corporation (motor vehicle parts), Virginia House Furniture, and Marion Composites (aircraft parts). U.S. Interstate 81 bisects Smyth County and passes through Marion. There are several shopping centers in town, with a number of department and discount stores, cinema screens, restaurants, groceries and boutiques. The Museum of Middle Appalachia is nearby in Saltville. Hungry Mother State Park is seven miles north of Marion, with facilities for camping, picnicking, hiking, biking, boating, swimming, fishing, and horseback riding. Mount Rogers National Recreation Area is about 10 miles south of Marion and features the highest peak in Virginia.
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Office hours for McDowell's practice
are 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Each physician
takes care of his/her own patients after office hours. In addition,
Dr. McDowell is on hospital call for Pediatrics one day in eight
and for Medicine one day in fourteen. 
Dr. McDowell is on the active
staff of Smyth County Community Hospital in Marion, where he
maintains newborn, pediatric, medicine, and ICU/CCU privileges.
He sees an average of 3-4 patients per day in the hospital. Dr.
McDowell also admits patients to Francis Marion Manor, a 95-bed
nursing home situated behind the hospital.