New doctor joins staff at NYM facility

By Tucker Henderson

Reporter

Dr. Michael Kerr’s face is becoming more familiar in New York Mills since his start at Perham Health New York Mills Clinic in August. After all, patients from throughout the region have looked to him for their everyday health care needs.

Kerr has been practicing family medicine for 4 1/2 years after graduating from the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine in 2019.

“Then you go through residency, which is a supervised aspect,” he said. “Three years, that was in Fargo prior to coming here.

“How it works is in med school we all do the books, the exams and all that and afterwards we go to different places,” Kerr continued. “So you get a taste of what rural medicine is, what urban medicine is, surgery, to a whole wide variety of things. I think through that, I’ve adopted being very flexible to the environment, so it wasn’t a difficult transition.”

Kerr said that his specialty in family medicine stems from a need for variety in his life. Monotony is something that he knew that he could avoid with his chosen specialty.

“Family medicine is very diverse and that’s exactly why I chose it,” he said. “I would not want to do the same thing day in and day out. Like, say a surgeon, that does the exact same thing every single day.”

Kerr hails from Toronto, the capital city of Ontario, Canada. Toronto boasts a populations of around 3 million people.

“Small town, 3 1/2 million, so it’s like NY Mills,” joked Kerr. “It’s smaller for sure. It’s a tight knit community, I think all the patients are very nice and just pleasant and accepting and open is the biggest thing and I’m enjoying that aspect.”

Dr. Kerr shares four days a week between the NY Mills clinic and the Perham Hospital. He is in NY Mills on Monday and Wednesday to serve local health care needs with his nurse, Leah Ashcraft. He said his favorite part of his job is the ability to help people who need it.

“Honestly, it’s helping people,” he said. “It’s very satisfying for me, when someone comes in with a problem and we’re able to fix it together, seeing a great outcome is very rewarding. I also like procedures…” he added with a laugh.

While off the clock, Kerr enjoys excitement in his hobbies and free time.

“I’m a car guy, I’m not gonna lie, that’s me,” he chuckled. “Exploring and honestly, trying new things is the biggest thing for me.”

While Kerr still lives in Fargo and commutes back and forth, he says he doesn’t know what the future will hold.

“I was there for three years, so my friend group is all there, so that’s where I’m staying for now,” he said. “We’ll see where things go.”