A shared tenacity: The father-son duo practicing whole-person care under the same roof

It’s not every day that a father and son can be found practicing medicine within the same hospital system, let alone only one floor away from each other, but for Ret. Col. Brandon Isaacs, DO, and Courtney Isaacs, DO, working together is just a normal day at the office, and patient referrals often require nothing more than a quick trip up or down a flight of stairs.

Since retiring from the U.S. Air Force, Brandon has shifted his focus from traditional family medicine to occupational medicine. Meanwhile, Courtney continues to practice family medicine right upstairs. Brandon shares that being able to refer patients back and forth is incredibly convenient. He and his son have a built-in ability to bounce cases off each other, especially the tough ones, he notes.

“My patients often need a primary care physician. I’ll say, ‘I know a guy,’ and take them upstairs myself and help them get scheduled,” Brandon says. “The same thing is happening on the other side. We recently had a patient who needed a fitness-for-duty examination. Courtney said, ‘I know a guy,’ and sent him down to me.”

Sacrifices & service

Today, the Isaacs team has developed a smooth system of providing whole-person care to their patients, but it wasn’t as simple as a flight of stairs for either of them to get there. For Brandon, his journey included a decorated career in the Air Force, which required grueling 120-plus-hour work weeks during his residency. While that demanding schedule left little time at home, it ultimately left a lasting impression on his son.

“There wasn’t a lot of family time between the Air Force and residency, especially when residency hours weren’t restricted,” Courtney says, who notes that, while his dad was away a lot, his dedication to the community left a lasting impression on him.

And despite the challenges of his schedule, Brandon made a conscious effort to involve Courtney whenever he could, bringing him along during domestic assignments and clinical rotations so he could observe.

“He was able to see what I do,” Brandon says. “And we’ll never forget the guy who shot himself in the finger with a BB gun!”

Navigating roadblocks

Courtney’s own journey into medicine was what Brandon calls “a bit of a challenge.” While working to complete his clinical rotations, a major roadblock called COVID-19 nearly stopped Courtney in his tracks. During the height of the pandemic, rotations were temporarily suspended, forcing an unprecedented pivot to virtual learning.

“I took advantage of my knowledge of personnel, and since some states rolled back restrictions earlier, we were able to find in-person rotation spots as opposed to doing it all online,” Brandon says.

Those hard-won in-person rotation spots ultimately led Courtney to a residency in Casper, Wyoming, a town that he describes as very isolated and rural by nature, meaning staff often lacked critical supplies and equipment. With such scant resources, Courtney quickly learned how to think on his feet.

“We had to do everything we possibly could in that area. Sometimes we’d even be isolated from transportation, sometimes up to two to three weeks at a time,” Courtney explains. “We were scraping by with what little things we had, but we were also able to do things that we didn’t think would be possible because of those limited resources.”

A shared resourcefulness

Courtney’s experiences in Wyoming mirror his father’s humanitarian missions, which Brandon also described as being in the middle of nowhere. These missions took him to Africa twice as well as Cambodia and South America. The people in these areas were faced with adverse conditions, including a severe lack of medical care. Ultimately, Brandon was able to work with what little he had and pass down that resourcefulness to Courtney.

“During my residency, when we talked about cases, he’d say, ‘I did it this way in Cambodia,’ and it made sense. Let’s just do it that way. Let’s manipulate it somehow to make it work,” Courtney says.

That shared tenacity for adaptation embodies a core tenet of osteopathic medicine: that rational treatment is based upon an understanding of the basic principles of body unity, self-regulation and the interrelationship of structure and function. The osteopathic approach to patient care resounded deeply with Brandon, inspiring him to pursue his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree.

Interested in pursuing medicine since high school, Brandon faced unexpected personal obligations that prevented him from beginning the traditional premed path. He initially went on to a different career path, leading him to enter the medical field later in life. As he began navigating his path to medicine at the University of Idaho, a counselor suggested he explore osteopathic medical schools.

After attending a conference in Pomona, California, he knew osteopathic medicine was for him.

“I came away from that conference learning about osteopathic medicine, the ability to integrate osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) and a more holistic approach to medicine in general,” Brandon says. “I called my wife and said, ‘This is it. This is where I need to be.’”

When he returned home, he immediately pulled all of his applications to allopathic schools, and applied instead to five osteopathic medical schools, eventually attending Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine (DMU-COM).

“The cool thing is, Courtney attended DMU-COM as well,” says Brandon. “I fell in love with osteopathic medicine, so knowing that he was going to do the same thing was extremely rewarding.”

A new chapter

Growing up with a passionate physician for a dad and the opportunity to observe him while he worked left a lasting impression on Courtney. Around the age of 10, Courtney began to consider medicine for his own career. He says that the stories Brandon told inspired him, in addition to the impact his father had on other people.

“There’s a huge respect component within the community that I felt was very valuable,” he explains. “I liked the way people looked at and talked to my dad, and that he was able to help them, even if it was just through a casual conversation or offering advice to someone who asked a question.”

Today, practicing just one floor apart means Brandon and Courtney are finally making up for those 120-hour workweeks that cut into family time decades ago. When their clinic doors are closed, they can just enjoy being father and son; no grueling residency hours, long-distances or patient charts required. Just a quick trip up or down a flight of stairs.

Other stories in this series:

‘Life’s too short to be miserable.’ The simple advice that shaped a son’s medical journey

How a New York emigre program laid the groundwork for a global health platform

All in the family: How 3 DOs are keeping a multi-generation legacy alive