Physician assistant Robert “Mark” Boyd joins Oaklawn’s express-care team

A fascination with aviation seems an unlikely beginning for a medical career, but that’s how the path began for Robert “Mark” Boyd as he grew up in his home state of California.

Now, after a lengthy career in emergency services and more than two decades of hands-on medical experience, Boyd has joined the Oaklawn’s express-care team as a physician assistant.

Boyd will be based primarily at Oaklawn Express Care – Beckley Road, which is to open June 1 in Suite B at 5352 Beckley Road, Battle Creek. The office may be contacted at (269) 558-0714. Boyd also will see patients at Oaklawn Express Care – Albion and Oaklawn After Hours Express in Marshall. 

Boyd was born in Carmel, California, and lived in the state for much of his life. After graduation from Piner High School in Santa Rosa, Boyd acknowledges that he was drawn into a medical career more by fate than by design, and a fascination with flying since he was a teen-ager.

“I actually started out as an aviation major and wanted to get into the U.S. Navy to be a pilot,” he said. “My college ran an emergency medical service and would pay for your tuition if you became a paramedic. I signed up for the firefighting program and ended up graduating from a paramedic school.”

Boyd also credited his father’s work in the ministry for helping to inspire in him a sense of responsibility toward other people.

“I always enjoyed helping people, and I felt that I should be able to do something to help in case anything happened at the camps we went to,” Boyd said. His growing skills in advanced first aid and lifesaving blossomed as a result.

In 1980, Boyd earned an associate’s degree from Santa Rosa Junior College as a firefighter-level emergency medical technician. That was followed by an EMT degree as a paramedic in 1983 from the Los Angeles-based Daniel Freeman Paramedic School.

“I grew to love being an EMT,” Boyd said. “I found that the calling I’d been given was medicine.”

As a certified firefighter and EMT, Boyd was employed by and volunteered for emergency agencies in California and Alaska. The work gave him a broad knowledge of emergency medical procedures while reacting effectively during crisis situations with patient safety in mind.

In time, Boyd enrolled in the program for physician assistants and family nurse practitioners at the University of California’s Davis Medical School, graduating in 2001 and plunging into work as a physician assistant focusing on pediatric, adult and geriatric services.

Since 2001, Boyd has worked independently as a physician assistant and as an employee of  medical and emergency services in Alaska, California, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Wyoming and Kansas, gaining first-hand experience in emergency-room procedures, urgent care, orthodontics, cardiology, wound care and family practice.

Boyd is certified through the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. His specialties include advanced cardiac life support, pediatric advanced life support and advanced trauma life support.

Boyd’s wife of 10 years, Patty, is a registered nurse. They met while they both worked for a critical-access hospital in Cordova, Alaska. Their blended family includes her three adult children and six grandchildren.

Boyd’s fascination with aviation never has waned, so he enjoys going to air shows and taking photographs of aircraft.

“I got into photography while I was in Alaska, and I enjoy going on ‘photo safaris’ as well,” he said.

Boyd’s broad background in the medical field has taught him to appreciate the kind of community-centered management style that Oaklawn provides in the region, he said.

To acquaint themselves with the Calhoun County community, Boyd and his wife visited the area late in 2022 just as Marshall’s holiday lights were illuminating the town.

“We always have lived and worked in small towns,” he said, adding that the couple expect to move into a home in the Marshall-Battle Creek area in the near future.

 “We like the idea of parades and the sense of community,” Boyd said. “The way I like to work is through community access. In fact, half my medical work may happen in the bread aisle at the supermarket because that’s where the community has access to you. We enjoy that one-on-one availability.”