DR. WHO
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
JILL GREEN, MD, FACOG
AUTHOR Aaron Burch
T
he Just for Women Health Solutions office at Clark Me-
morial Hospital is quieting down as closing time nears.
It’s a hot Wednesday afternoon in early August, and the
receptionist has already left for the day. Dr. Jill Green, a
gynecologist and lifelong southern Indiana resident, sits
in a cozy office filled with photos of family and loved ones.
After a day of seeing patients and working through lunch,
she seems relieved that “Dr. Who” is her last appointment before
heading home to her family.
Home is in the town of Borden, Ind., but she’s called numerous
parts of southern Indiana home throughout her life and career.
“I was born in Washington County Hospital in Salem, but I grew
up in Pekin,” she said. “I have three brothers, two older and one
younger. We all played at the little league park. They played ball
while I watched or rode my bike.”
The family rarely crossed the river into Louisville in those days.
“For shopping, we’d visit Salem. It was only around Christmastime
that we’d come into Louisville to eat at The Blue Boar. Then we’d go
to Sears to see Santa and ride the escalator. That was a big deal!”
Dr. Green smiled.
Studying at Eastern High School in Pekin, Dr. Green took
all the biology classes she could with the intention of becoming
a medical technologist. She succeeded, finishing undergraduate
studies at Purdue and UofL and going up the interstate to work at
Scott Memorial Hospital in Scottsburg, Ind.
Her husband, Joe Green, ran the family business, Green Banner
Publishing. For 85 years, their free newspapers were distributed
through Washington, Scott, Clark, Harrison and Floyd counties. It
closed its doors in 2018, and Joe has retired.
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LOUISVILLE MEDICINE
“We met at the newspaper where I worked as a proofreader for
a summer, back when proofreaders were still needed. He asked me
out later that fall. We got married in Martinsburg at the Martinsburg
Church of Christ, which has been my church all my life.”
After just two years of work, Dr. Green became the lab director
at Scottsburg Memorial Hospital. “I was 25 and interacting with
physicians all the time. It made me think that maybe I could go into
practice too. Dr. Joseph Beaven, who now has a practice in Charles-
town, was an ER physician there. He was the one who encouraged
me to try medical school. That was really inspiring.”
Dr. Green graduated without a hiccup from UofL’s School of
Medicine. Because of her husband’s newspaper business, residency
opportunities were limited to what was available at UofL.
“My residency match was different than most. Most often, stu-
dents choose their specialties and then go interview. I chose UofL,
and then had to find a residency at that location. I interviewed for
internal medicine and OB. I was thrilled to get OB, because that
was my first choice.”
Residency was tough. Dr. Green was still living in Pekin at the
time, meaning it was a 45-minute commute at the end of what was
sometimes a 36-hour shift. She’d keep food in her car to eat just to
stay awake for the late-night drives.
“Residency was exciting. I saw a lot of unusual cases that I
hope to never see again,” laughed Dr. Green. “We rotated through
a lot of subspecialties, but I knew I wanted to work as a general
community OB/Gyn.”
Dr. Green was also a new mother. She’d had her daughter, Leslie,
before her internship that led to residency. Her son, Roerk, arrived