Member of the Week: Dr. Mark Wardle

Practice: I have always enjoyed teaching and loved having students and residents rotate with me in clinic, but after a medical mission trip to Honduras where I supervised and taught medical students, I decided that was something I wanted to do full-time. So in 2018 I joined Rocky Vista University in Southern Utah in their Primary Care Department where I teach medical students clinical reasoning, physical exam and history-taking skills and am still able to provide clinical care at the Doctors Volunteer Clinic in St. George, the Veteran’s Home in Ivins, and at Intermountain Instacares. I also teach a Medical Spanish Elective and run the Global Medicine Track for our campus. As part of those responsibilities, I also have the opportunity to organize global outreach trips with students which have been special experiences for me.

Residency: Utah Valley Family Medicine Residency in Provo

Any additional training or fellowships? 1yr fellowship in Rural Medicine and Faculty Development at UVFMR.

A bit about Dr. Wardle: I grew up in a small town in California where I played waterpolo and juggled fire. I met my wife, Tammy, in High School but we didn’t start dating seriously until after my 2 year church mission to Chile. Although we are both from California, we fell in love with Utah while attending BYU, so after returning to California for medical school at Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine, we came back for residency at UVFMR in Provo and made Utah our home. We have 5 children and 2 grandchildren and love them all to pieces!

What keeps you passionate about family medicine? There are probably two things that keep me passionate about family medicine: patients and students. In FM you really come to love your patients as you get to know them in ways some other specialties miss out on. But even with the patients that you may only see once, it always amazes me the personalize relationship you can build in such a short time as you find the best way to care for this person that has put so much trust in you. Teaching students keeps me honest and humble. They have such a hunger to learn and such big hearts that you can’t help but absorb some of that passion. It is invigorating. I highly encourage all doctors to bring students into their practices!

Where will we find you on your day off? On free days, we love exploring the hiking trails in Southern Utah. I also enjoy running and I still bust out the juggling equipment every now and then!

What are you…
reading right now: I just finished reading The End of Epidemics by Jonathan Quick and am about to start Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott.

watching right now: Anything on Disney + with the kids and Survivor with my wife.

listening to right now: I love the AFP Podcast, The Clinical Problem Solvers, and Come Follow Him with Hank Smith and John Bytheway.