Robert W. Walker, M.D.
Highlands Internal Medicine, P.C.
215 East Valley Street
P. O. Box 189
Abingdon , Virginia 24210
Phone: (276) 623-1332
Fax: (276) 623-1761
Email: KX4DX@aol.com

Robert Walker, M.D. is a board-certified Internist with Highlands Internal Medicine, a professional corporation in Abingdon , Virginia . Dr. Walker practices in association with Andrew Rhinehart, M.D. and two nurse practitioners trained to work with older adults, Jennifer Taylor and Karen Blevins.

Born December 2, 1954 in Tokyo , Japan , Dr. Walker spent his childhood in Cincinnati , Ohio and Evansville , Indiana . He is married to the former Martha Ann Mumford and has two children, William Paul (b. 1985) and Meredith Alison (b. 1988). The Walkers live on a farm in Washington County . Dr. Walker enjoys amateur radio, computers, travel, and hiking and camping with his family.

Dr. Walker attended undergraduate school at the University of Evansville , Evansville , Indiana and graduated Cum Laude in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology and Chemistry. Upon graduation, he matriculated first in the Department of Microbiology at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis (1976), then in the Department of Microbiology at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale , Illinois (1977-78). Dr. Walker enrolled in the Indiana University School of Medicine in 1978 and graduated with an M.D. degree in 1982. In 1985, he completed a three-year residency in Internal Medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis.

Upon the completion of his residency training, Dr. Walker practiced with Henderson County Internists in Hendersonville , North Carolina . In 1986, he moved to Abingdon , Virginia , where he worked with the Johnston Memorial Clinic from 1986 to 1994. Dr. Walker has been practicing with Highlands Internal Medicine in Abingdon since 1994.

Highlands Internal Medicine is an out-patient only practice that refers those who need inpatient care to hospitalists at Johnston Memorial Hospital . Office hours at Highlands Internal Medicine are from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Dr. Walker sees from 25 to 30 patients a day in the office. He also sees patients at Grace Health Care, a 120-bed nursing facility located about one mile from the practice.

As an Internist, Dr. Walker sees only adult patients. He estimates that 50% of his patients are between the ages of 20 and 50 and that about 15% of his patients can be described as fragile elderly. Most patients at Highlands Internal Medicine are covered by commercial insurance carriers, although the practice does accept assignment for both Medicaid and Medicare and includes some uninsured patients as well.

Dr. Walker has a high-tech, “paperless” practice that makes full use of electronic medical records.

Highlands Internal Medicine is located in a renovated brick building on a quiet and shady street in Abingdon. The clinic has 12 patient exam rooms and a full-service medical laboratory operated by Lab Corp. The physicians do few procedures on the premises other than simple repair of lacerations, other skin surgeries, echocardiograms, and carotid ultra-sonograms.

Johnston Memorial Hospital is an acute care facility with 135 staffed beds and a 2003 occupancy rate of 40%. The hospital reported 4,956 admissions and 19,953 patient days in 2003. The most frequently utilized service lines of the hospital in that year were pulmonary, obstetrical, newborn, cardiology, gastroenterology, and orthopedic surgery. About 9% of the hospital's expenses were consigned to charity care, bad debts, and taxes and about 9% of patient care days were utilized by those with Medicaid.

Dr. Walker says that residents should come to Highlands Internal Medicine to get extensive, intensive exposure to the treatment of patients with high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes. Residents will learn just how prevalent these diseases really are – Dr. Walker sees around 30 patients with diabetes each week.

Working in a small town enables an Internist to manage care for patients with complex, or at least semi-complex problems without having to refer out to subspecialty physicians. When the need arises, however, Highlands Internal Medicine has access to a full complement of sub-specialists at tertiary hospitals in nearby Bristol and Kingsport , Tennessee .

GMEC should be able to secure a furnished apartment to house residents who train with Dr. Walker in Abingdon. However, short-term rentals are hard to find in small towns, and so residents may opt to stay in a local bed and breakfast called the Inn on Town Creek.

Chartered in 1778, Abingdon (p. 7,780) is the oldest town west of the Blue Ridge Mountains . It is the seat of government for Washington County (p. 51,103). Local attractions include the Barter Theatre, the Martha Washington Inn, the Tavern, the William King Regional Arts Center , White's Mill, the Fields-Penn Museum , the Virginia Highlands Festival, and the Virginia Creeper Trail.

Outdoor enthusiasts can swim, hike, bike, hunt, fish, and ride in several state and national recreation areas within easy driving distance - Grayson Highlands State Park, Mount Rogers Recreation Area, Jefferson National Forest, and South Holston Lake.

Washington County stretches across the broad and beautiful Tennessee Valley . Clinch Mountain bounds the county to the north and the southeastern corner pushes into the Iron Mountain range. Two branches of the Holston River drain the area and offer sport for fishermen. The local landscape is characterized by pastured hills, quiet, cultivated valleys, and densely forested mountain steeps.

Major elements of the Washington County economy include services (33.6%), manufacturing (22.0%), trade (19.5%), and government (13.0%). In 2003, the largest employers in the area were Bristol Compressors (hermetic compressors), Strongwell (plastic products), Universal Products (man-made fibers), Utility Trailers, Boise Cascade Office Products, and Mid-Mountain Foods (grocery distribution).

For more information about Abingdon and Washington County , see http://www.uvawise.edu/gmec and http://virginiascan.yesvirginia.org/thePDF.asp?PDFCode=200 .