Gregory Munson, MD, MPH
I was raised in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, where I worked on local dairy farms during high school in addition to daily chores on my family’s small farm. Halfway through college, I joined the US Naval Reserves as a cryptologic technician, including a year studying Russian at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA. While in Monterey, a friend and I drove to Vancouver, BC, for Expo 86. I thought Vancouver was the most beautiful place I had ever seen.
In college, my academic interests began to focus on ancient history, eventually leading to a PhD program in Assyrian history at the University of Chicago. I loved the languages and history of the ancient Middle East, plus my month on an archeological survey in Syria; but I began to realize that job prospects were slim for Assyriologists. I ended up leaving my program as an ABD, i.e., a student who had completed “all but dissertation” and worked in downtown Chicago for two years. During that time, I decided to pursue medicine. I returned to U of Chicago as an undergraduate pre-med student, stayed on at its Pritzker School of Medicine, and then moved to Nashville for internal medicine residency at Vanderbilt followed by two years as a VA Quality Scholar at the Nashville VA. During my time at the VA, I got my master’s in public health (MPH) from Vanderbilt. My GI training was at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota where I did quality-improvement research.
When I opted not to pursue a career in academic medicine, I recalled the beauty of the Pacific Northwest and cold-called NW Gastro to inquire about a job. I joined the practice in 2011 when Dr. Stephen Woods retired. Outside of work, I love to travel with my wife of 35+ years, to spend time on one of my road bikes (including biking to work most days), and to connect via Zoom with my kid in college.
Dr. Munson joined NW Gastroenterology & Endoscopy in 2011.
- Medical School: University of Chicago
- Residency: Vanderbilt University
- Fellowship: Mayo Clinic Rochester
