Jonathan Parr, M.D.

Jonathan Parr, M.D. grew up in rural South Carolina, where he first perceived the healthcare disparities between urban and rural populations. During high school he worked for a rural family practice whose founder inspired him to work for those in resource-poor settings. Once in medical school, he worked in the lab of the university’s Center for Global Health where he found the research to be especially rewarding. As a Dean’s Center for Global Health Scholar, he traveled to Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, the summer before his last year of medical school to work in a free medical clinic. There he conducted clinics in the city and in remote mountainous villages. Once again, he noticed the striking difference between urban and rural patients, and saw that the problems faced by the Guatemalan people were broader global health issues, such as unreliable access to clean water. As a Global Health Equity resident, Dr. Parr hopes to explore opportunities for systematic changes that will improve healthcare for patients in resource-poor settings.