Variety is the spice of life and is a good description of the career of Board certified psychiatrist Robert Hamm, MD. From New York to Florida to East Tennessee, he has practiced in both the outpatient and inpatient side of psychiatry as well as in private practice. Today, as medical director for Lake Haven Behavioral Health Center at Henry County Medical Center, Hamm is drawing from his past experiences as he steers the program and builds a private practice in Paris, Tennessee.
The New York native, who has several relatives who are physicians, always knew he would pursue medicine as a career. He realized his interest in psychology as an undergraduate at the University of Buffalo in New York. “I was double majoring in biology and psychology and realized of the two, I really enjoyed psychology,” said Hamm. “I really excelled in psychology which boosted my GPA and I thought it would increase my chances of getting into medical school. Ironically it was studying psychology that made me realize how much the mind and how it processes emotions and stressors of daily life interested me.”
Medical school was in Dominica at Ross University School. After a year and a half of classroom instruction, he returned to Brooklyn, New York to complete the clinical rotations portion of his training. Prior to entering the match for a residency spot, he returned to Ross University to teach problem-based learning.
Hamm kept his mind open to specialties as he went through medical school. “I wanted to experience all the rotations with no preconceived notions so that I could really get into all of them to see what I liked the most at the end,” he said. “I had really enjoyed my psych rotation and it was something I had always excelled in. I narrowed my choices down to primary care and psychiatry and applied for both in the match process. When I pre-matched at East Tennessee State University for psychiatry, it took the pressure off of having to go through the match process and was the answer I was looking for.”
After completing his residency training in Johnson City, Tennessee in 2011, Hamm took a position in Panama City, Florida working in an outpatient clinic and with an inpatient crisis stabilization unit. He followed that with six months working for Covenant Health at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. While at Fort Sanders, Hamm started doing some locum tenens work at Brookhaven Retreat, a private pay facility for women nestled in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains in Seymour, Tennessee. He later joined the staff full time.
When a recruiter contacted Hamm about the medical director position at Lake Haven and for an outpatient unit, his interest was piqued. “I came to Paris to interview and found that I not only liked the facility but I also really liked the people there,” said Hamm. “After that, things just all seemed to fall into place and in September 2014 I joined the staff at Henry County Medical Center. My private practice is located in the Medical Arts Building on the campus of Henry County Medical Center and I see most of my patients there on an outpatient basis.”
As medical director of Lake Haven, which is the hospital’s 20-bed inpatient unit, Hamm works with Donald Gold, MD, seeing patients on the unit. “Plans are to convert all the psychiatric inpatient rooms to single occupancy on the unit that will become a geriatric-psychiatric unit,” said Hamm. “A General Psychiatry floor below the unit will house another eight patients. The program treats mainly adults. While I am not an adolescent or child psychiatrist, I have definitely worked with them and have seen some on an outpatient basis.”
While moving can be one of the biggest stressors a person can face in life, Hamm has learned to take it in stride. He says the transition to life in a small town, especially after living in New York, Miami and Knoxville, has been on of the easiest transitions of his life. “I have sort of an advantage when it comes to transitioning since I have basically moved about every six to twelve months since I was 17, but it was necessary due to my career path,” he said. “I really like Paris, it is easy to get around, there is no traffic, the cost of living is great and the people are so friendly. It is a wonderful home base and a nice place to settle.”
Even though he has been on the move quite a bit over his career, Hamm does like the fact that psychiatry allows him to get to know his clients. “It is a good experience when you see someone who initially was not doing well, can with various interventions and therapy, improve and have meaningful relationships,” he said. “The field of psychiatry is always evolving which is also interesting.”
Travel is a passion for Hamm and one that has taken him to Europe, the Mediterranean, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico and all the Caribbean islands. “Travel introduces you to new places, new foods and new cultures,” said Hamm. “It also gives you a new perspective on things and reminds me to always have an open heart and mind.”
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