Oaklawn welcomes family practice and obstetrics physician Tiffany Burns, M.D.

MARSHALL – Tiffany Burns has been fascinated since her youth by a love of history and people. When she was in middle school, she imagined she might grow up to be a physician.

“I always loved science,” Burns said.  “I loved watching the Discovery Channel growing up, and I excelled at advanced biology and anatomy in high school.”

That view set the stage for a career addressing the real needs of families in the here-and-now realm of community life, eventually bringing her to Calhoun County to join the Oaklawn Medical Group as a family-medicine physician.

The Lake Odessa native completed her residency in late June at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing and will begin practice in mid-August in Marshall and Tekonsha, with a focus on obstetrics and pediatrics.

“I majored in physiology during my undergraduate career and went into medicine with the intent to practice forensic pathology,” said Burns. “However, as my family grew, my interest and passion changed. I realized working with women and their families brought me the most joy.”

That interest was thrust into the forefront of her own life when her first child was born. At the same time she was in the junior year of her undergraduate career at MSU, her husband had to leave home for the first of two tours with U.S. military troops in Iraq.

During that time, both her and her husband’s families pitched in to provide help in many forms, she said. Subsequently, the couple had two more children while she was in medical school.

“Having my own family and going through medical school really impacted me,” she said. That experience generated a powerful sense of empathy for mothers, which contributed to her decision to continue her work as a family-practice physician, said Burns, who is the first member of her immediate family to go into the medical field.

“I’ve seen the stress that can be put on mothers and families,” she said. “And I know how important it is to receive as much assistance as possible. I learned firsthand it takes a village to raise a child – or we should say a village to raise a healthy family.”

Tiffany and Lucas Burns have moved their household to Marshall from Holt, bringing with them their three young children. Lucas, who also grew up near Lake Odessa, works as an analyst for Mason-based Dart Container Corp.

The family was unfamiliar with Marshall until visiting for the first time in 2015 while Dr. Burns scouted for a location to begin her career as a physician.

“We had never considered moving from the Lansing area,” Burns said, “but when we saw the hospital and the town, we started to change our mind. As we discussed the idea with friends and family we heard only positive things in regard to Marshall. Everyone who knew of the town had only great things to say. We were delighted and felt it would be a great place to raise our children.”

She now plans to spend any spare time away from her practice focusing on her husband and children – and creating a vegetable and flower garden.

“Dr. Burns has the kind of passion for family medicine that we seek and cultivate at Oaklawn,” said Mark Montross, Executive Director of the Oaklawn Medical Group. “We realized immediately that she was a wonderful fit for our patients and the communities we serve.”

Burns received a Bachelor of Science degree in physiology in 2008 from Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine, where she remained to receive her Doctorate of Medicine degree in 2013.

Burns is a member of the American Medical Association, the American Board of Family Physicians and the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Burns will work out of the Oaklawn Medical Group’s Tekonsha office at 2218 Old US-27 North as well as Marshall Internal & Family Medicine’s Family Practice/Obstetrics Suite in Suite 2B of the Wright Medical Building. Appointments can be made at (517) 767-4038.