Dr. Sharon McIntyre: ‘We treat the whole person, not just put a Band-Aid on it’
From helping mothers deliver babies to providing medical care for soldiers and their families, Dr. Sharon McIntyre has built a career caring for others.
Now, Dr. McIntyre’s almost three decades of family medicine and obstetrics experience are helping patients at Western Sierra Medical Clinic. Western Sierra’s commitment to the community and patients, along with a teamwork approach among providers attracted McIntyre to the organization in spring 2019.
“We collaborate and work very well together,” she said of the providers at Western Sierra. “We provide primary care and have many of specialties.”
From behavioral health and pain management to podiatry, patients can get much of their health care needs in one place.
“We have a lot under one roof,” Dr. McIntyre said. “It’s wonderful. It helps so much.”
Rather than have a patient make an appointment with a specialist across town, or often even an hour away, Western Sierra providers work closely with colleagues down the hall.
The clinic’s collaborative approach and emphasis on preventive care, education and empowering patients to make informed decisions improves treatment – and often outcomes.
“We treat the whole person, not just put a Band-Aid on it,” she said.
And helping others is why Dr. McIntyre, whose mother was a registered nurse, entered the medical profession.
“I knew I was going to do something in health care,” said Dr. McIntyre, who earned a bachelor degree in Biochemistry and later a master in Immunology from University of California, Davis. “I love the science and the people.”
Being a doctor allows her to combine both, so she enrolled at the St. Louis University of School Medicine in Missouri, where she graduated with top honors.
She later joined the U.S. Army and was a staff family practice physician at the Weed Army Community Hospital in Fort Irwin in California. Dr. McIntyre, then an active U.S. Army Major, practiced family medicine, including obstetrics at the hospital.
She continued with family medicine and obstetrics after leaving the military, including delivering several hundred babies, including via C-section, at community hospitals in California and Nevada.
Although no longer delivering babies, Dr. McIntyre is part of a three-person team that provides prenatal and postnatal care for mothers and their babies at Western Sierra.
“It’s really the most fun side of medicine,” she said. “And I can still see mom and baby.”
Away from the office, Dr. McIntyre enjoys an active life – including camping, hiking and horseback riding (she owns a horse).
“We really like Grass Valley,” said Dr. McIntyre, the mother of three adult daughters who live outside the area. “I love the foothills.”