Business IQ
When Dr. Simon returned to Idaho in 2003, she had already established quite a history.
Dr. Simon spent two wonderful years traveling through North America with her husband, a professional skier, and young son Adam. Unfortunately, a disastrous accident that took her husband’s life left Dr. Simon with her two-year-old son to support with only a high school education. Dr. Simon looked to her family in Boise to help her regroup and enrolled in Boise State University. After earning her nursing degree, her mentor, Dr. Russell Centanni, encouraged her to continue her education. Dr. Simon was accepted to the University of California Berkley. She and her son moved to San Francisco where she earned her Masters in Public Health while working as an AIDS consultant under Dr. Donald Francis, former Director of CDC’s AIDS Laboratory Activities and Center for Disease AIDS Advisor to the State of California.
Dr. Simon was not finished, however. She moved on to Eastern Virginia Medical School and then served her four-year residency in St. Louis. As a Public Health Scholar, Dr. Simon served for two years in Glascow, Montana, population 4,000. As one of the only OBGYN’s in a 400 mile radius, Dr. Simon carried a very heavy caseload and still values that as the greatest hands-on experience.
Though she had grown to know and love her patients in Montana, Dr. Simon yearned to rejoin her family in Idaho. As the second child of eight, Dr. Simon was one of only two who did not live in the Boise area. Therefore, she moved back to Boise in 2003 to open Rocky Mountain OBGYN, the only OBGYN in Eagle.
Dr. Simon is dedicated to the community and writes a medical column weekly for The Valley Times. Of her many volunteer activities, Dr. Simon is particularly excited about bringing her periodical free screenings for Osteoporosis and breast cancer.
When asked, “Of all the places you have been and seen, why did you choose to return to Idaho?” Dr. Simon replied, “This area has given me so much, a great foundation, a desire to learn and succeed. I came to Idaho to give back.”
Taken from the Idaho Business IQ article Jan/Feb Issue 2004
