New family physician excited to join MCHI

A new doctor will be joining Memorial Community Health’s family medicine provider team at the Aurora clinic in September. Meet Dr. Alyxandra Wurster.
After completing her schooling and returning to her hometown to finish her residency, Dr. Wurster will be embarking on new chapters of her career and personal life in Aurora.
Wurster grew up in Lincoln in a family of five. As a child, she always knew she wanted to go into the medical field. 
 “I always thought I wanted to do either medicine or veterinary work,” she said. “I just kind of continued to pursue the prerequisites of that up until college and I ended up moving to Kansas City for my undergrad.”
Wurster pursued her bachelor’s degree at William Jewell College, a small school in Liberty, Mo. There, she was able to play volleyball while getting her degree.
 She graduated with a bachelor’s of biochemistry and turned her attention to getting into medical school.
“I stayed in Kansas City for medical school. I went to Kansas City University, or KCU, which is an osteopathic program,” she said.
Osteopathic medicine is an approach to health that looks at the whole person. By learning about a person’s lifestyle and environment in conjunction with their symptoms, osteopathic medicine provides a well-rounded approach to medical care that strives to make patients healthy overall -- not just absent of pain or symptoms.
“The osteopathic physician is legally (and) medically the same as the medical doctor or MD degree,” Wurster said. “We take the same board certification exams and do the same residency training. Just the school part is different.”
The education and tests are the same for MD’s and DO’s (doctor of osteopathic medicine), but the philosophy is what varies, Wurster said. 
“The osteopathic philosophy is centered around treating the patient as a whole rather than looking at disease specific treatments and that sort of thing,” she said. “...sort of a philosophy that the body has this capacity to heal itself, and that can be part of our treatment plan.”
Wurster believes that modern medicine, like medication and surgeries, and lifestyle factors can come together to create the right treatment for patients.
After her time in Kansas City, where she completed her masters of science in biomedical science and doctor of osteopathic medicine, Wurster moved back to Lincoln. She is finishing up her residency there before she comes to MCHI.
She says that the family medicine program in Lincoln trained her for practicing in a more rural setting, which brought her to Aurora.
“I interviewed at several places and I actually brought Jordan, my now (fiance), to my interview in Aurora and both of us just kind of fell in love,” she said. “We left the interview like “Okay, we don’t even need to look anywhere else” because everyone we met was really friendly and welcoming.”
Wurster is excited for the work she’ll be able to do in Aurora as a family medicine doctor, not only for her patients but with her colleagues as well.
“I wanted to make sure I was joining a group that didn’t mind me asking questions and reaching out for help,” she said. “At my interview, I met Dr. Jobman and Dr. Johnson and both of them offered me their cell phone numbers and just made me feel very welcomed and at home.”
Though there isn’t just one thing Dr. Wurster is excited for, she looks forward to be able to settle down in Aurora with her fiance, soon to be husband.
“Jordan and I both are just excited to settle down and establish our community a little bit,” she said. “We’re just looking forward to meeting new people and hopefully finding a group to hang with.”
At Aurora, Wurster hopes to create meaningful relationships with her patients and make sure they feel comfortable coming to her.
“I feel really lucky to get to do the work that I do. I really enjoy being a physician, and I am looking forward to creating relationships,” she said. “I hope that patients who walk through my exam room feel comfortable, and welcomed, and feel like their stories are being heard. I really want to try to partner with patients to keep them healthy or get them back to healthy.”
In addition to this new chapter of her career, Dr. Wurster will be embarking on a new personal journey: marriage. Dr. Wurster will become Dr. Baker after her and her wedding in June.
“We are excited to welcome Dr. Wurster to our team of family medical providers,” commented MCHI’s CEO Justin Wolf.  “She is not only a great fit for our organization, but she and her soon-to-be husband are a great fit for our community. We look forward to welcoming them both to Aurora.”
Dr. Wurster will begin seeing patients in September. To be added to the list for appointments with Dr. Wurster, call Memorial Health Clinic at 402-694-3191.