Services: Diagnosing and treating common health problems; Routine checkups and health screenings, including Wellness visits; Newborn, pediatric and adolescent care; Women’s Health, Men’s Health, and Geriatric Care; Medication management; Immunizations; Acute illness care; Injury requiring medical care; Chronic medical conditions; Referring and coordinating your medical care with specialists when needed; Promoting an overall healthy lifestyle and disease prevention; Additional training in dermatology; Endoscopies; Colonoscopies
Bio: Dr. Franson studied the effects of nutrition and migration on feather growth in white crowned sparrows, intending to work as a wildlife biologist. When the political logistics of that career sank in, he instead got a job teaching high school in Washington state. During that time, he found a great role model in Dr. Pennington, a rural family physician who managed his wife’s pregnancy, and he was inspired to pursue that kind of work. He studied up, applied to a program at Ohio State, and moved to the Midwest. From there, he did his residency in Spokane and then moved to Soda Springs.
Dr. Franson says, “There’s very little in rural medicine that I don’t enjoy. It has been a great privilege to be both helpful and connected to people. So much of primary care has been whittled away and given away over the decades and I’m stubbornly resisting that dilution. I intend to keep doing as much as I can for my patients.” Some of his particular interests are colonoscopy and dermatology procedures. He has also enjoyed doing OB deliveries over the years. Dr. Franson enjoys the complexities of hospital care and regular primary care.
On a more personal level, Dr. Franson finds joy and personal growth from working with draft horses. He says, “They have taught me to slow down and made me a better person. This fills much of my time when I’m home – it takes a lot of work to work horses!” He is a fan of Wendell Berry and Thoreau and has read most of what they’ve written. He enjoys physical work and handwork, things like putting up hay, woodcrafting, fixing up old farm implements to use with the horses, and growing fruits and vegetables.