Once a flight surgeon, St. Luke’s physician stays busy with multiple roles – and a band on the side

Dr. Timothy Ruth loves challenges. In fact, for most of his life, he has preferred to face multiple at once.

A St. Luke’s family medicine physician who also is medical director of the on-demand virtual care team, Ruth grew up knowing he wanted to be in the military. Later, he developed an interest in medicine.

So, why not combine those passions, both requiring serious commitment?

“My first eight years out of residency were full-time military,” Ruth said.

Ruth began his active duty service in North Dakota before transferring to Mountain Home Air Force Base. There, he attended flight surgeon school and became involved in flight medicine in 2004.

He stayed on active duty for five years as a flight surgeon and was deployed to Ecuador in 2004 and to Afghanistan in 2007. Along the way, he immersed himself in the inner workings of a fighter squadron.

“It was really a fun challenge and it was a blast,” Ruth said.

The title of flight surgeon is a bit of a misnomer, however.

“When you’re a flight surgeon, you’re kind of their team physician, so my job was to take care of the pilots and their families,” he said. “But your role is also to integrate with the squadron to make sure the team trusts you.”

He learned that building that trust can take some time and effort. After all, he was working alongside pilots who were at the top of their class.  

“For me, that was the ultimate part of the job,” Dr. Ruth said. “You’ve got to integrate with a group of people and fly with them. I’m not a pilot, but I’ve spent enough time in F-16s and F-15s. … In the end, you need to know their job, know their world, know their language.

“They’re really good at spotting when you don’t know what you’re talking about. You can’t BS your way through a fighter squadron. They’ll call you out.”

Ultimately, Ruth’s knowledge and experience in medicine earned the pilots’ trust.

“That’s what you’re there for and that’s how they will come to respect you,” he said.

Dr. Ruth left active duty in the Air Force in 2008. True to form, he still took on dual roles that year: He joined the Idaho Air National Guard and came to work at St. Luke’s full time. He stayed in the Guard for the next 14 years while also working as a family physician.

“It was a pretty busy time from 2008 to 2022,” he said. “But I like variety. If I get a little bit too much of one thing over and over I tend to get a little bored.”

He has managed to keep things interesting by always finding interesting roles at St. Luke’s.

“My day-to-day work is in the outpatient family medicine clinic,” Dr. Ruth said. “I also do FAA exams for pilots and air traffic controllers.”

Sounds like more than enough to keep most people busy.

Oh, he also dedicates about 25% of his time to his role with the virtual care team.

“I supervise a team of about 15 providers who are responsible for … our telehealth virtual care,” he said. “So, that’s my work situation: family medicine clinic, FAA clinic and on-demand medical director.”