Raised on a dairy farm outside Little Rock, it may have seemed a more natural calling for Joe Bates, MD, to study veterinary medicine. Yet from a very early age, his focus on becoming a physician never wavered.

 

“I never had a doubt,” Bates said. “I really loved the profession.”

 

The son of a businessman and a schoolteacher, Bates recalled learning to milk cows at the knees of his parents, and climbing on the back of Samson, a pet mule, for a better view.

 

Even though Bates grew up on farmland outside the metro area, his mother was insistent on sending him to Little Rock Public Schools, even though traversing the winding country roads every weekday presented a hardship on the family.

 

“This was during World War II with tire and gas rationing, and we were taking me back and forth to school every day,” explained Bates. “My mother was very determined for me to get the best education possible.”

 

Her determination translated into inspiration for Bates that prompted him to excel in various areas. For example, reading to him from an early age helped Bates develop a deep affection for literature. Also, Bates was an integral player on championship football and track teams at Little Rock High School, where he was a member of the National Honor Society. After graduating from high school in 1950, Bates headed to Hendrix College to study pre-med, a pursuit spurred by several role models in the family who were physicians, especially his cousin, Wallis Marsh, who practiced medicine for more than 60 years in the small city of Warren in southeast Arkansas.

 

Bates’ literary talents were nurtured at Hendrix, a liberal arts college, where he also met Patsy McGinnis, his future wife. “It was wonderful,” he said of his days at Hendrix, “to have a liberal arts education.”

 

After three years at Hendrix, Bates completed his last year of undergraduate studies at the University of Arkansas in 1954, and earned a medical degree from the College of Medicine three years later. Unlike most medical school graduates, Bates never left Arkansas. He remained in Little Rock to complete his internship and residency in internal medicine. Next up, he began a two-year fellowship in infectious disease at the university and also received a graduate degree in microbiology in 1963.

 

Bates has continued to pursue research projects via grants from the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, the National Institutes of Health, and for the Veterans’ Administration Hospital in Arkansas.

 

Early in his career, his research centered on tuberculosis, an interest that stemmed from witnessing a beloved uncle in his twenties diagnosed with the disease.

 

“He was my idol,” Bates said. “(His illness) had a profound effect on me … and probably put the fire in my belly about fighting tuberculosis. It was a very common disease in those days.”

 

In 1963, he joined the VA Medical Center in Little Rock as a clinical investigator. Two years later, he became chief of the pulmonary disease section. In 1968, he was named medical service chief, a post he held for two decades.

 

At UAMS in Little Rock, Bates has served as assistant professor of medicine, associate professor of medicine and biology and vice chairman of the department of medicine. He continues to serve as a professor of medicine and microbiology there and as a professor of epidemiology and associate dean for the College of Public Health. He is an associate member of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement.

 

With his colleague at UAMS, Ralph Stead, MD, Bates was responsible for some of the most dramatic changes in TB treatment, leading to the home-care protocols that we have today. In effect, this research closed down the sanitariums, and made the two doctors from Arkansas world-renown in that field.

 

Yet with so many accomplishments under his belt, Bates found himself at a crossroads in 1998, the year he turned 65. If he was going to have a second career, he thought, I better get started on it. That year, Bates was named director of the tuberculosis control program for the Department of Health. He served in that capacity until 2001, and from 1998 to 2005, he was an agency leadership team member. In 2005, he was named deputy state health officer and chief of science for the department, a position he continues to hold.

 

The era of Bates’ second career boost unfortunately paralleled personal sorrow. After 52 years of marriage and four children together, his college sweetheart passed away. The untimely event sparked an inward journey for Bates, who in time renewed his focus on life’s joys. Two years ago, Bates married Donna McNair, a lady he describes jovially as “above his station.”

 

To remain fit, the 77-year-old begins every morning by stretching and lifting weights. After work, he hits the gym to ride a stationary bike while scanning The New York Times. Even though he no longer plays tennis, Bates boosts his cardio activity in other ways. For example, he takes the stairs daily at work to his fifth floor office.

 

In his spare time, Bates indulges his passion for reading and writing literature, and wants such a comprehensive knowledge of American history that he’s considered returning to school to pursue a history degree.

 

If Bates he hadn’t become a physician, his dream job would most likely involve working as an investigative reporter for The New York Times.

 

“I think good newspapers are absolutely essential for democracy,” he said. “Investigative reporting is one of the critical things that allow us to survive in a free state. It’s a noble profession.”

 

Bates is focused now on increasing the awareness of the importance of oral health in the state. Many school-age children in Arkansas have untreated cavities and some need emergency care for dental issues, he lamented.

 

“Oral health is a big public health problem because it affects one’s total health,” he said.

 

Noting that 1 million Arkansans do not drink water that’s properly fluoridated, Bates said part of the health department’s initiative is to increase fluoridation of public drinking water systems in the state.

 

Bates said he’s proud of the Clean Indoor Air Act passed by the Arkansas Legislature, which bans smoking in public places.

 

Other issues Bates continues to address through the state health department are infant mortality and obesity.

 

“Obesity is getting to be a bigger problem than cancer because it leads to so many other health problems,” he said. “That’s something we’re working on to improve the health of Arkansans.”