After graduating from Messiah College on a full-tuition scholarship and marrying Janice Martin, RN, I entered the University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine’s combined MD/PhD program with a research interest in neurocellular physiology. Completing the preliminary course requirements for the PhD while concurrently taking the MD basic sciences, my career was providentially redirected away from research and into clinical medicine. Eventually I entered Family Practice, an emerging specialty emphasizing whole-person care, including the spiritual as well as the physical and psychological.

I forsook the PhD and completed the MD degree, and accepted my three-year Family Practice Residency in Williamsport, PA, where I later co-founded Cornerstone Family Health, PC, a Christian group practice which is still thriving today. In 1990, I moved the family to Lancaster County at the instigation of the children, Kristin, Jeremy, and Erik, to be closer to their grandparents and cousins, and to attend Lancaster Mennonite High School. During the 80s and 90s, our family took short-term missions trips, which influenced the children to go on longer missions in their teens and 20s. With Erik’s wedding on September 30, 2005, all three of the children are now married and serving the Lord, and my wife and I have two granddaughters.

After coming to Lancaster, I joined the faculty at Lancaster General Hospital’s Family Practice Residency, while retaining a part-time private practice, and serving as Medical Director of Hospice of Lancaster County, where Jan works as a Hospice Nurse. In more recent years, after delivering about 2,500 babies and teaching young family doctors the Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics course, I cut back my hours and semi-retired from deliveries and teaching at the hospital.  My wife and I founded an international nutritional distribution business, Hurst Partners International, Ltd., and for over 11 years it has grown as we work in concert with NSA/Juice Plus+. I travel and lecture on disease reversal and prevention, emphasizing to patients and audiences alike the most effective means of healthstyle modification, incorporating nutrition, fitness, spiritual balance, and self-care.  This month I am opening a new business which will provide laser skin rejuvenation and anti-aging services for the “baby boomers” and others.