Dr. Henderson is the Designated Medical Director for our Bend office. She graduated from Oregon Health Sciences University in 2003, and received her training in Family Medicine at the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center in Lawrence, Massachusetts, graduating in 2006. She did her undergraduate studies at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, earning a major in Biology and a minor in Third World Development. She has always been passionate about the heart of medicine-that is what inspired her to go into medicine in the first place. During her undergraduate training, she was touched by the writer Henri Nowen’s description of the “wounded healer.” With that in mind, she aims to connect with others in a way that honors the possibility that sometimes it is the wounded parts of our selves that deliver the greatest joy or healing in our interaction with others. One of the things she loves most about her work in hospice is that there is space for giving and receiving from practitioner to patient, in a two-way street, along these lines.
Dr. Henderson chose family medicine as her specialty of choice because it seemed to offer the best opportunity for treating the whole patient. She approaches wellness and illness from a holistic perspective, and works to include the patient’s family as an integral part of the care plan. Dr. Henderson practiced family medicine in Oregon for 6 years, before switching to hospice work in July 2013. Her impetus for the change came after investigating the opportunities in hospice, after she kept hearing from a close friend about how much she loved working as a hospice nurse.
In her time off, Dr. Henderson enjoys practicing yoga, taking singing lessons, jogging the beautiful trails in Bend, listening to live music with friends, and best of all, spending time with her sister’s family, including playing with her niece and nephew. She also loves to travel, some of her favorite spots being India, Italy, and Central America. Next on the list is Africa and Thailand. She likes to write and read poetry and prose. Along these lines, here is one of her favorite poems, by William Stafford:
The Way It Is
There’s a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.
By William Stafford, from The Way It Is, 1998
