Medical Corner: Changes in 71st MDG staff Published Nov. 27, 2007 By Jennifer McMullen 71st Medical Group VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- The 71st Medical Group added staff recently that will improve care for the Team Vance community. Lt. Col. (Dr.) Vincent Tobin, Dr. David Barnard and Dr. William Price joined the medical group within the last two months and have hit the ground running. Dr. Tobin is the new chief of the medical staff and is responsible for ensuring the best possible care for all active duty and retired beneficiaries. He is also a board certified obstetrician/gynecologist. Dr. Barnard is a familiar face at Vance. After retiring from the Air Force here where he served as the chief of the medical staff, Dr. Barnard was hired as a civilian family physician. His previous experiences in the Air Force took him through various assignments as a family physician, element chief, primary care medical director and chief of medical operations. "I'm really very excited to still be a part of Team Vance and the Enid medical community," Dr. Bernard said. "I am happy to be able to continue caring for military members and retirees and their families." Dr. Barnard knew the Air Force was trying to hire 50 civilian family physicians in 2007 to help alleviate a manpower shortage, and the service was especially interested in hiring retiring or separating physicians. "It just so happened that I was retiring this year, so it worked out perfectly for me that I was able to retire but remain here in Enid where there is such a great group of people to work with at the Vance clinic," he said. Dr. Barnard said the Vance clinic converted military positions to civilian in the nurse staff, the laboratory, the pharmacy and many other areas of the clinic in recent years, all with great success. "We're fortunate that Vance has so many highly qualified medical personnel to choose from here in Enid and that we have such a great relationship with the local civilian medical community," Dr. Barnard said. Dr. Price spent his medical career in private practice, but decided to change pace and work with the military. Prior to coming to Vance, he worked as a faculty member at a residency program in Enid. "I'm very excited about working here at Vance and consider myself very patriotic," Dr. Price said. "It is a privilege and honor to take care of our active-duty members, their dependents, and those who are retired and served our country in the past." Dr. Price chose family medicine because he enjoys taking care of multiple family members and enjoys the continuity of care this type of medicine affords. Lt. Col. (Dr.) James V. Tobin Dr. Tobin was born and raised in Sacramento, Calif. His parents were an Army Air Corp/Air Force flight surgeon and a flight nurse. He received his commission through Reserve Officer Training Corps at the University of Wisconsin in 1971. Medical school followed at the University of Louisville School of Medicine in 1975 and his residency in obstetrics/gynecology was completed at the Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1979. Doctor Tobin's first active-duty assignment was with Strategic Air Command at Loring AFB, Maine, from 1979 to 1983. He then transferred to the Air Force Reserve while teaching in residency programs in New York City. From 1990 to1991, he was deployed as chief of professional services at the 1st Tactical Air Command Aeromedical Staging Facility during Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield in Saudi Arabia. Later, after 12 years of private practice, Doctor Tobin and his family made the decision to return to the Air Force in 2003. His first assignment was at Wright-Patterson Medical Center, Ohio, where he trained the OB/GYN residents as the Assistant Professor of OB/GYN at Wright State University. Dr. David R. Barnard Dr. Barnard is a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and received his commission as a second lieutenant from Officer Training School in 1984. He served as an RC-135 electronic warfare officer and instructor standardization/evaluation EWO until 1989 when he was selected for an Air Force Health Professions Scholarship. He obtained his medical degree in 1993 form Washington University School of Medicine, and then completed a 3-year residency in family medicine at Offutt AFB, Neb. He gained experience as a family physician, element chief, medical director of a primary care clinic, and chief of medical operations at various Air Force bases before being selected in 2005 as the 71st Medical Group chief of the medical staff at Vance. He retired from active duty Nov. 1 and is currently working as a family physician at the Vance Clinic. Dr. Barnard was born and raised in Arcadia, Calif. Dr. William F. Price Dr. Price was born in Killeen, Texas, but soon moved to Oklahoma where he grew up in Wewoka. Doctor Price served in the Army as infantry from 1975 to 1977 after graduating high school. After serving, he went on to get his undergraduate degree from East Central University in biology in 1987. He entered Oklahoma University for medical school, graduated in 1991, and completed his residency in family practice in Enid in 1994. He went into private practice in Madill, Okla., from 1994 to 1999, and returned to Enid as a faculty member at a residency program until April 2007. Dr. Price's responsibilities at the Vance clinic are taking care of families, similar to what he did in private practice.