Hospital dedicates room in honor of doctor
courtesy photo
Bill and Esther “Pink” McDonald, parents of Dr. Robert McDonald, attended the dedication of a special consultation room in honor of their late son at Providence St. Joseph Hospital May 6. McDonald drowned on Flathead Lake last summer while kayaking.
courtesy photo
Dr. Robert McDonald
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News from Providence St. Joseph Medical Center
POLSON — On Wednesday, May 6, a special consultation room at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center was dedicated as the Dr. Robert McDonald room.
On July 19, Dr. McDonald died while recreating on Flathead Lake.
Robert William (Rob) McDonald, M.D. was born March 8, 1968, in South Weymouth, Massachusetts. In late May, 1968, Robert was adopted by William T. (Bill) and Esther Louise (Pink) McDonald of Wayland, Massachusetts. In early August 1968 the McDonald family moved from Massachusetts to Dana Point, Orange County, California. Robert grew up and lived there until he moved to Hoover, Alabama.
In September 1986 he entered the University of California at Irvine. In June 1990 Robert graduated with two bachelor’s degrees, one in Biology and the other in Linguistics
After graduation from UCI, Robert (he now preferred to be called “Rob”) joined the Emergency Medical Technician staff at the UCI Medical Center in Santa Ana, California.
In the summer of 1994 Rob’s parents moved from Dana Point, California, to Hoover, Alabama, where his father took a post-retirement job with the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Medicine. Rob decided to apply to that University for graduate studies, and graduated in June 1996 with two master’s degrees, one in Public Health Administration and one in Business Administration.
Subsequent to his graduation Rob took a position with the AIDS Research Center at UAB, and was sent to Lusaka, Zambia, Africa, as director of an AIDS Research and Treatment Clinic managed by the UAB AIDS Research Center at UAB. Rob served for nearly three years as director of that Zambian Center.
Returning from Zambia, Rob announced that he was going to apply to the UAB Medical School. He was admitted in September 2004 and received his M.D. degree in June 2008.
After graduation from the UAB Medical School Rob immediately began a four-year internship at the UAB School of Medicine, specializing in Internal Medicine. After completing that internship, he undertook an additional two-year residency at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, specializing in Infectious Diseases. He completed that residency in July 2013.
Dr. McDonald accepted a position as a staff physician at Providence St. Joseph Hospital in September 2013. He was a member of the medical staff at St. Joseph’s until the day of his accidental death by drowning, July 19, 2014.
Rob’s parents, Bill and Pink McDonald of Hamilton, Montana were present at the ceremony.
