INTRODUCING
FRANK RAMSEY BURNS, JR., MD
AUTHOR Carolyn Burns, MD
Drs. Frank & Carolyn Burns in
Provence, France, 2009
W
hen the GLMS team approached my husband about
the biographical article for Louisville Medicine upon his
inception as president, he brought this to my attention
with the obvious assumption I would take this on. Af-
ter nearly 35 years together, this, of course, is natural
and anticipated. With some careful consideration and
review of previously published biographical sketches,
I settled on not just providing my perspective as to where Frank
has been, what he has become, and who Frank truly is. I wanted,
as well, to include thoughts from our two children, Meghan and
Chris, as it is important to see Frank through their eyes.
Let me begin with the “where Frank has been.” Frank was born
and raised in Hannibal, Mo. His father was an OB/Gyn and his
mother a nurse by training. From my view, Frank got the sharp
medical mind and surgical skill from his father and the deep com-
passion for patients from his mother. Frank and I met our first
year in medical school at the University of Missouri in 1982. I was
quite happy to be in an environment of like-minded students and
certainly excited to make new friendships with the students in my
class. Frank and I found ourselves truly “just friends” in the pack
of students within our class, studying together, doing laundry, and
often bemoaning our fates over one of our respective bad dates. As
one might expect, this friendship grew and ultimately, we dispensed
with dating others and decided, quite practically, that we weren’t
half bad as a couple. I will freely admit I pushed this agenda more
than Frank, not due to my biological clock, mind you, but because
of the qualities I saw in Frank: his character, specifically his strong
mind, good sense of humor, compassion, honesty and loyalty were
pretty hard to find in a 20-something young man (no offense to
my male colleagues or my son). I remember my mother telling me
that Frank was “the one” having met him on various occasions in
Columbia. She had met prior beaux and clearly found them lacking,
yet, not so Frank. I guarantee you, my mother was never wrong
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LOUISVILLE MEDICINE
when it came to sniffing out good character.
We married before our fourth year of school, in 1985. This came
with decisions regarding specialty training, residency interviews and
the match. We landed in Louisville and have made this our home.
We have navigated residency together, entering private practice, and
the duties, responsibilities and the joy of having our two children.
As for the “what has he become,” Frank’s career has spanned
30-some years and has morphed since residency training. He joined
a single ophthalmologist, allowing him to get his feet wet as a prac-
ticing eye surgeon and to see what solo practice was up front. Given
the mergers and acquisitions during that time, this practice became
part of a larger one, yet Frank felt compelled to move back into the
solo role. He had the help of numerous colleagues, receiving advice
on how to establish and sustain his practice throughout these well-
known turbulent times in health care. He has become quite a savvy
businessman while consistently, and most importantly, providing
the best for his patients. Frank’s practice allows for autonomy and
time to devote to his patients, for whom he cares deeply.
This brings me to “who Frank is.” I have seen Frank grow in
leadership roles these past years as a practice and patient advocate,
and in policy development on the local, state and national level. This
is all based upon his character I noted those many years ago. All of
this I love about him and love for him. This opportunity to serve
as the GLMS President he sees as a true honor. Those of you who
know my husband understand his commitment to patient care and
community. Those of you who do not, he will want to meet you,
to listen to your concerns and experiences, and help take action as
achievable through this medical society. I assure you, he will not
disappoint.
Now for the kids…
Dr. Carolyn Burns is an Independent Patient Blood Management Physician.
(continued on page 17)