Intermountain Health physician Chris Upton, MD, always felt a calling to become a doctor serving community members who might otherwise not have access to the medical care they needed.  

It took a couple of years exploring every rock face he could climb – and exploring his inner self along way – to confirm this path and begin his journey into medicine. 

Two decades later, Dr. Upton serves his local community as a doctor and prepares other aspiring young people to serve their communities through medicine. And he still climbs – but now, most of his time with rope and harness is spent helping save lives as part of the Mesa County Search and Rescue team.  

On Thursday, July 4, Dr. Upton will participate in a Mesa County community event where alongside his fellow search and rescue teammates, he’ll scale Independence Monument and place an American flag atop the iconic spire in the Colorado National Monument.  

“It’s a joyful thing, an exciting thing,” Dr. Upton said of the annual climb. “It’s there you realize you are part of a bigger thing; you are part of a community and energy that is beyond you as a human being. It’s a magical feeling.” 

That sense of community and that desire to contribute to something bigger is the driving force running through Dr. Upton’s story.  

The approach 

Before going to medical school, he took time to do what many young people drawn to the West do: spend a few years working odd jobs and diving deep into his love of the outdoors – specifically, climbing.  

“Five days out of seven, we were on the rocks,” he said. “It was a really transformative time in my life. I learned a lot about myself, about my limits, about where I wanted my life to go. And that's what ultimately pushed me back into medicine.” 

Grand Junction ended up being the perfect community for him to practice medicine. Nestled against a vast outdoor paradise, the city has cultural elements and healthcare challenges like smaller, more rural towns. However, Grand Junction has a large enough population – and large enough hospital in Intermountain St. Mary’s Regional Hospital – to offer plenty of healthcare job opportunities.  Meanwhile, the Grand Valley struggles to draw enough physicians to meet the community’s needs. 

Just like during a climb, Dr. Upton saw the lines of his route come together. He and his wife, Sara, had experience as teaching faculty from their medical fellowships, and St. Mary’s runs a family medicine residency program.  

“I had this love of teaching, and it just kind of all fell into place,” he said.  The couple joined the faculty in January 2020, and today he is a residency faculty attending physician.  

Helping family medicine resident physicians ascend

“Our job here is to train physicians that are just out of medical school and mold them into physicians that will be able to serve their communities in the long run, whether that community is a small town in Kansas, in Denver, or here in Grand Junction,” Dr. Upton said.  “It's very rewarding for many reasons, but this is the first program I've worked at where the vast majority of the residents we train end up practicing somewhere in our community, at least for a time.” 

Dr. Upton also continues to see his own patients at the clinic, which helps him maintain his skills and patient-physician connection. But his favorite part is the teaching.  

“We have this chance to take someone that knows a lot about book medicine. They don't necessarily know a lot about real world medicine…it's just amazing to be part of their transformation over the three years, the growth, the maturity, the dedication to their patients.” 

His latest cohort graduated on Sunday, June 30, and the next new class has arrived. It’s his favorite time of year.  

“The dark of winter is gone, summer is here. You get to see residents who have grown go out into the world. New residents are coming in, and the energy is so high,” he said, grinning. “It’s an exciting time of year.” 

Coming full circle 

In addition to his medical career, Dr. Upton volunteers with Mesa County search and rescue. On average, he participates in a couple of rescues each month.  

He was drawn to search and rescue during a climb outside Las Vegas, where he helped with the rescue of a climber who had fallen. As he watched the search and rescue professionals load the injured climber into a medical litter and fly off in a helicopter, Dr. Upton thought, “I could contribute by being that person.”  

“When I found out that there was a rescue organization here, I thought back on moments like that. And I said, ‘well, this might be a good place to commit to the community,’” he said. “Search and rescue allows me to use my climbing skills, and I still get to rappel and do the fun stuff in a safe setting. It fills that cup for me.” 

This will be Dr. Upton’s fourth summit of Independence Monument on the Fourth of July with the team. 

"Participating in the Fourth of July Climb is a proud tradition for the Grand Valley. It symbolizes a commitment to teamwork, reflecting the same spirit of collaboration and compassion for our community. In his faculty role Dr. Upton trains and fosters future physicians in the Family Medicine Residency program,” said Dr. Michelle Arnold, chief medical officer for St. Mary’s Regional Hospital and the residency program. 

To learn more about St. Mary’s Family Residency program click here. To see more photos from this year's climb visit the St. Mary's Hospital Facebook page.

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