Dr. Jack Tarr Named in Top 3 as 2021 “Best General Practitioner”

Jack H. Tarr, MD
Jack Tarr, MD

Congratulations Dr. Tarr!

We’re proud to share that one of our physicians, Jack Tarr, MD, was recently named in the top three as 2021 “Best General Practitioner” by the Knoxville News Sentinel / USA Today’s “Knox Stars” Program.

Dr. Tarr began his practice in Knoxville in 1986 and has become an established and well-respected physician in the community.

A native of Jefferson County, he was raised on tales of his grandfather, H.L. Tarr, MD, who began his practice in 1907 and traveled to his patients’ homes by horse and buggy. This was the early inspiration that led to Dr. Tarr’s long career in medicine.

Dr. Tarr received his medical training at the University of Tennessee, Memphis. He completed his residency in family medicine at Naval Air Station Millington, then began practicing in California. There, he witnessed the need for urgent care as a complement of primary care and emergency rooms. He saw the opportunity for accessible healthcare when a patient risked being turned away from a doctor’s office with no available appointments. He worked at a “Minor Emergency Clinic” in California, a type of practice that predates walk-in clinics as we know them today. Dr. Tarr has now built his primary care practice with a convenient walk-in clinic in West Knoxville that has provided more than 1 million patient encounters over 30 years.

“I have seen tremendous changes in the medical industry during my career. Patient care has increasingly been improved by wonderful collaboration of multiple levels of caregivers in a patient’s care: nurses, home health, therapists, and physician extenders.

Technological advances and increased availability of all types of testing have made it easier to arrive at a definitive diagnosis. I am grateful to see medical boards continue to demand well trained, capable, and patient-centered family physicians.”

His advice to new physicians beginning to practice is to truly render excellent patient care.

“We must remain patient-centered and be sure to answer what the patient is asking in a way they can understand. Because practicing medicine is emotionally and physically draining at times, new physicians should be careful to establish healthy lives outside of their practice including exercise, faith opportunities and family life.”  

In April 2021, Dr. Tarr was the interview subject of a Knoxville News Sentinel article about being a primary care physician in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read it here: https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/health/2021/04/30/how-one-doctor-handled-hour-hour-tension-amid-covid-19/7229949002/


[bs_lead]Dr. Tarr retired from practicing medicine and FamilyCare Specialists in May 2022.[/bs_lead]

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