‘That’s my jam’

Greenfield native Jackson Lamb was known in high school and college for his ability to shine as part of athletic teams that found great success, and now he’s aiming for helping people in his chosen career field.

Lamb began a two-month family medicine preceptorship recently at Adair County Health System. He’s studying at University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) in Omaha to become a physician assistant (PA).

This is just one of several stops on Lamb’s journey of preceptorship. He finished a more classroom-oriented portion of his education in September, and now he has 15 months of these rotations.

His stops have focused on the areas of emergency room, pediatrics, gastroenterology, and others. His pediatrics rotation was in Arizona, and others have been closer to home.

“At the beginning of PA school you send in preferences of what type of rotations you want to do and where you want to be. If you rewind to then, I sent in a preference to be able to come back home and precept here,” Lamb said.

Lamb is working under Jenna Evans, PA-C at Adair County Health System. He spoke very highly of Evans and how she has taken him under her wing, teaching him a lot. Lamb’s final day will be Feb. 24. Lamb is the son of Todd and Lisa Lamb.

“Family medicine is my only two-month rotation, so it’s pretty cool to be here for two months,” Lamb said. “All the rest are four weeks. Family practice is kind of UNMC’s focus. Family practice is everything.”

Out of high school, graduating from Nodaway Valley in 2016, Lamb went to Briar Cliff University in Sioux City to play basketball and study biology.

Growing up around the funeral home that his parents own, he observed them working hard and being there for those in their time of need. That inspired Lamb to go into the medical field.

“I like math and science and like interacting with people and caring for them. I’ve never been the best standardized test taker and was afraid of it, but when you put something in front of me, I’m going to study it, put the work in, pick it apart, and it’s going to pay off,” Lamb said. “When I heard about PAs are able to do — they’re able to treat, diagnose, prescribe and come up with a care plan with a little more team-oriented scope of practice — I said this is exactly what I want to do. It deals with a medical team working together to find the best outcome for the patient. I was like, ‘This is my jam.’”

Lamb said that his family background wasn’t the only formative theme that led him to where he is today. As a student-athlete, and namely a student-athlete of longtime Nodaway Valley coach Darrell Burmeister, he was able to form the traits and character to be successful down the road in life. For those things, he’s grateful.

“End of middle school, when I was about to come into B’s grasp, he had me start to come into the gym and get extra work in. I was always kind of natural at basketball. Taking his lead, building that work ethic, and coupling that with my mom and dad’s work ethic, that’s just how I was brought up,” Lamb said. “Also, being in a small town, you see it all around. When I went to Briar Cliff, I had good time management skills and knew that if I put my nose to the grindstone it would pay off in the end, and it has.”

Lamb plans to continue studying in UNMC’s PA program. His girlfriend is also studying to be a PA. His long-term goals are for them both to become the best PAs they can be.