MOUNTAIN HOME—As Russ Rauls, MD, rolls to a stop in his Mountain Home driveway at the end of a long workday, he’s greeted by a welcoming committee of knee-high fans. “DA-dee!” the Rauls’ children—Lexi, 6; Lauren, 3; and 2-year-old Will— squeal in unison.

Before Rauls can plant both feet firmly on the ground, they wrap their arms around his knees and waist. “Daddy’s home! Daddy’s home!”

Raising a family in a college town of 12,500 in the Salem Plateau region of the southern Ozarks, was among the best decisions Rauls, an orthopedic surgeon at Knox Orthopaedics, and his wife, Tenille, have made, he emphasized.

Rauls grew up in a small southern Arkansas town of Rison, located 230 miles due south of Mountain Home. His dad, Clinton, is a retired railroad welder; his mom, Dorla, helps the family operate a picture frame business and a sawmill they established decades ago.

“Probably the most revered people in my small town were physicians, and I always looked up to them,” said Rauls, who became more acquainted with doctors after injuring his knee during a ninth grade football game.

“I didn’t have to have surgery, but that was when I began looking at the medical field,” recalled Rauls, whose short list of career options included being a professional athlete—perhaps like Minnesota Vikings safety Tyrell Johnson from Rison—or a sportscaster. “Even though I made good grades, people told me how hard it was to get into medical school, and what a long road it would be to become a doctor. I took that as a challenge.”

At the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) in Conway, Rauls played outside linebacker and free safety for three seasons before succumbing to a shoulder injury, which required surgery during the spring semester of his junior year.

“I knew I wasn’t going to be able to play my senior year, so I got a job at the local hospital in Conway and decided to go full press to get into medical school,” he said.

After graduating from UCA with a biology degree in 2001, life sped up for Rauls. He married his college sweetheart, Tenille West from Glenwood, bought a house and started medical school at UAMS—all within a span of a month.

“It’s amazing how little I knew about medicine when I started medical school, and I was a little afraid to tell people what I wanted to do in case I didn’t have the grades or board scores or aptitude, but surgery topped my list,” admitted Rauls, who was influenced by prominent Little Rock orthopedic surgeon, Ken Martin, MD, also a Rison native. “He ended up doing knee surgery on me while I was in medical school and of course, we talked a lot. If you’re really into sports, it’s an easy transition for sports and medicine to go into orthopedics. I knew then that’s really what I wanted to do, no doubt.”

Early in his UAMS residency in orthopedic surgery, Rauls had an option to locate in Mountain Home, which provided a great opportunity for the type of work he wanted to do.

“I wanted to develop relationships with some of the older patients who, after knee or hip replacement surgery, could get back out and play with their grandkids,” he said. “It gave me an overwhelming sense of satisfaction. Mountain Home also provided us with a smaller town feel that we liked and an environment in which we wanted to raise our children.”

In 2010, Rauls pursued an orthopedic fellowship in combined adult reconstruction and sports medicine at Triangle Orthopaedic Associates in Durham, N.C., while his wife, an ANP working with a neurosurgeon group at UAMS, joined Duke Neurosurgery in Raleigh. 

“We started looking 30 years down the road and decided Raleigh/Durham was a nice place to visit, but we wanted to get back to Mountain Home,” he said. “I’d tailored my fellowship to return there.”

In July, Rauls joined orthopedic surgeon Tom Knox, MD, at Knox Orthopaedics. Rauls’ fellowship training in hips, knees and shoulders complemented Knox’s fellowship training in hand surgery. Rauls’ wife joined the clinic two days a week; she cares for their three young children the balance of the time.

“We live pretty close to the clinic,” he said. “In Mountain Home, you’re never too far from the hospital, clinic, church or school.”

The mountain town is also a sportsman’s paradise, much to Rauls’ liking. Outdoor Life recently listed Mountain Home, located between three rivers, one of the nation’s top 20 cities for sportsmen, and Field and Stream rated it the second Best Fishing Town in America.

“I haven’t had a chance to do much fishing over the last 10 years, and I’d like to carve out some time for that,” said Rauls, also an avid jogger and weight lifter. “I’d like to do more fly-fishing, especially later on with my kids. That’s big business around here. Mountain Home is a good fit for us.”

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