February 10: Rachel Mehr, MD

Dr. Rachel Ballard Mehr is a board-certified family medicine physician with Ascension Medical Group (AMG) Tennessee. She has more than ten years of practice experience and has served in various AMG leadership positions, including her current service as chair of the board. Her interest in medicine began at a young age, with her father and many other family members and mentors being physicians. Dr. Mehr is currently one of 18 physicians and dentists in her family. 

She attended Meharry Medical College, where she received the Outstanding Family Medicine Student award in medical school and received honors in multiple rotations. She quickly became passionate about providing primary care to the underserved, who often presented with advanced-stage illness and had very complex and challenging cases. She then completed three additional years of training in Family Medicine Residency, where she trained in evidence-based medicine, doing most of her rotations in Nashville Metro General Hospital and some additional training in pediatrics at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital and Vanderbilt Children's Hospital ER. 

Outside of the office, Dr. Mehr enjoys spending time with her husband (Dentist Dr. Kamran Mehr), two children, extended family, and friends.

One interesting note is that Dr. Rachel Ballard Mehr is also a well-trained violinist. Growing up, she auditioned and qualified to have her violin lessons sponsored by the Juilliard School of Music. In addition to winning numerous competitions, she has completed concert tours with The Houston Youth Symphony, performed with The Nashville Youth Symphony, and has been accepted to the highest levels of both the Texas and Tennessee All State Symphony Orchestras. She served as concert mistress of her undergraduate orchestra at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and also served in the university's Opera Orchestra. While in college, she taught private violin lessons to children. Dr. Mehr also played a short while in the Nashville Philharmonic Orchestra. For her, it was always medicine or music. She chose medicine.