Woman practices urology

The newest urologist in the valley understands if a male patient goes into shock after finding a statuesque young woman waiting to check his prostate.

"After all, I'm a lady," she said with a laugh.

When Dr. Amy McKerrow became a board-certified urologist, she was among less than 5 percent of women holding that credential.

She again breaks new ground as the first woman urologist in the valley. Mc-Kerrow recently joined Dr. John Andenoro at Urology Associates in Kalispell.

She came from Anchorage, Alaska, where she just finished four years of military service as Maj. Mc-Kerrow, staff urologist, at Elmendorf Air Force Base Hospital.

McKerrow, her husband, Justin, and 4-year-old twins, Sydney and Lucas, came down the occasionally treacherous Alaska Highway to their new life in Justin's home state.

"He grew up in Great Falls," McKerrow said.

She started seeing patients Sept. 6.

The urologist said she takes no offense if a man prefers a male physician. But she might be a little disappointed.

"My favorite patient is a 65-year-old man," she said with a smile.

She said her older male patients appreciate what she does for them. McKerrow said she also finds that she communicates easily with them.

Although most people associate urologists with men, McKerrow said women make up about 40 percent of patients. They come for treatment for a variety of problems such as incontinence, urinary tract infections and kidney stones.

As the baby boomer generation grows older, urologists become exponentially busier, treating age-related conditions such as prostate enlargement and prostate cancer.

"I've already diagnosed three or four cases of prostate cancer in just three weeks," McKerrow said. "We do a lot of cancer surgery."

With the advent of PSA tests in 1987, physicians now diagnose prostate cancer at a much earlier stage when it's most curable. Treatment brings an 85 percent cure rate at five years.

Such results attracted McKerrow to her specialty. But initially, she found choosing one field difficult.

All aspects of anatomy fascinated her growing up in Kansas City, Mo. She recalled the awe she felt as she learned about the function of the heart as a teenager in high school.

"I remember telling my parents I definitely want to do something with the human body," McKerrow said.

Science ranked as her favorite subject in school. She was good at math, but she admits she hated the subject.

"What is the point of calculus?" she asked with a laugh. "And physics is so out there."

But biology was tangible. She thought she was learning something she could apply in life.

McKerrow went on to graduate Magna Cum Laude from Texas Christian University in 1991 with a major in biology.

While still at the university, she knew she wanted to move on the medical school, but she had no idea how to pay for it. Then, her chemistry professor proposed what she thought was an absurd idea.

"He said 'Hey, I've got a great idea. I'll bring the military recruiter by to see you,'" McKerrow said.

The Air Force recruiter knew how to lay down a challenge. McKerrow said he punched her buttons by saying he wasn't sure she could qualify for a medical school scholarship.

Of course, she immediately proved that she could by applying. In January '91 as the Gulf War erupted, McKerrow was offered the scholarship with only two weeks to decide.

It was a life-changing decision with high stakes. Choosing the Air Force meant starting her private practice with no debt. But pay back comes in the form of a four-year military hitch.

"It's a full ride," she said. "There's a stipend for rent, a stipend for books and they pay your entire tuition."

McKerrow went for the full ride, but she cautions that choice brings important consequences. The military can choose a physician's field based on the needs of the Armed Forces at the time.

Even though she liked every field she experienced in medical school, McKerrow knew she had her field when she worked in urology.

"I really liked surgery… a lot," she recalled.

McKerrow faced an uphill battle to secure one of the few residency slots for a urologist within the Air Force. A stint working with a consultant to the Surgeon General for Urology made the difference.

After a serving a two-year residency in general surgery, McKerrow began her four-year urology residency at the University of Iowa in 1997.

In the same year, she married Justin, a Montana State alumnus doing consulting work in Iowa.

"He graduated with a degree in agribusiness," she said.

Justin also holds a master's in business.

The two started their family in 2001, just as McKerrow began her stint as a new major at Elmendorf Air Force Base.

Pregnant with twins, she couldn't complete the training that eases the way into the military culture. There were other challenges.

"I couldn't get my combat boots on," she said laughing. "My husband would lace my boots up every morning."

Then her boy and girl twins were born three months early in October 2001. It was a terrible time for McKerrow, as the babies spent three months in the intensive care unit.

She found herself in the shoes of a consumer of medical services in the midst of a family crisis.

"They call it a roller-coaster ride," she said. "I was pretty much miserable."

Justin kept an optimistic attitude, focusing on the bright side of each crisis. She said he was her rock in the emotional turmoil of fearing for her children's lives.

They both pulled through, though Sydney spent a year and a half on oxygen. McKerrow soldiered on as an over-worked urologist for the base.

She started out with a partner. But then the needs of the service sent the other physician to England.

"My last two years was a load," she said. "It was probably good preparation for this."

McKerrow had several offers in Iowa when she and her husband decided to come to Kalispell. It offered fly-fishing, snow and water skiing as well as extended family.

"Justin's grandparents live on Echo Lake," she said.

At 36, McKerrow has the family and environment and career she has always dreamed about. Better still, she doesn't carry $100,000 to $300,000 in debt from 10 years of medical education.

She said the sacrifice, losing her twentysomething years, was worth it.

"I love urology," she said. "You get to develop a nice rapport with your patients."

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.