JENNIFER BOULDEN

Fort Smith physician and photographer Dr. J.P. Bell lives life to the fullest.

Simply put, J.P. Bell loves life. The Fort Smith physician loves living it, he loves capturing it on film, and he most of all loves saving it in the emergency room, in his mission work around the world and in his new urgent care clinic.

Born in Fort Smith and raised there and in Northern California, James P. Bell has been a physician for more than 30 years and simultaneously a professional photographer for the past 20. On top of that, he writes articles for specialty magazines, travels extensively, and enjoys spending time outdoors, particularly if it involves fly-fishing or whitewater canoeing. Last year Voyageur Press published a book of Bell's photography on one of his favorite subjects to shoot: Steam Trains; A Modern Look at Yesterday's Railways.

Bell first thought he would be something else entirely: a field biologist. The University of Arkansas undergrad gradually realized, though, that a career in medicine could more easily incorporate all of his academic loves—biology and chemistry, but also history, anthropology and writing—while directly helping people in need.

He attended the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences from 1970 to 1974. In his junior year, he had a life-changing experience: a summer preceptorship in Yemen.

"Yemen had just then emerged from the 13th century," Bell said, "and medical care there was scarce, so I got a lot of first-hand experience doing things a third-year med student wouldn't normally do, like taking an appendix out and treating a number of exotic, tropical diseases we don't see here. That trip opened my eyes to the world and made me more sure of my choice of a career in medicine."

Bell traveled through Europe before and after his trip and spent time in Kenya and Ethiopia as well. Ever after, travel and missions work would be important components of his life.

In his senior year at UAMS, J.P. met a pretty nursing student who would become his wife and lifelong partner, Candy, now a nurse practitioner. They married in 1974 and would have two children and countless adventures over the next few decades together.

The first of those adventures came when the newlyweds decided to take time off from schooling and go work in Browning, Mont. on a Blackfoot Indian Reservation.

"We loved Montana, the work, the natural beauty, and almost ended up making a life there," Bell said.

The couple had their first child, Elizabeth, in Montana, one eventful night. When the doctor they had traveled 100 rough miles to see was not on hand as Candy's labor progressed, J.P. delivered his first-born child himself.

"That was one of the great thrills of my life," he said, grinning at the memory.

A residency program in internal medicine with George Ackerman, MD, convinced the Bells to return to Little Rock, where their son Steven was born. Following residency Bell almost returned to Montana, but opted instead to open a private practice in Mena, Ark.

"Everyone should have the opportunity to go into private practice at some point," Bell said. "It's just a great experience for a doctor, whether you do it forever or not."

During his four years in Mena, a new hospital was built and Bell helped open the first intensive care unit there. Business was booming, but sometimes a little too much.

"We liked Mena a lot, it's a great community," Bell said, "but if I wanted to see my kids grow up, I either needed a partner or to make a change."

The next change would stick for 26 years. An opening at the Emergency Medical Group for Sparks Hospital in Fort Smith brought Bell back home. He said a number of specialties were emerging in the early 1980s, but emergency medicine piqued his interest most. "Of all of them, it had developed a discrete body of knowledge about acute care and had defined itself very well," he explained.

The new job provided the needed structure between work and family time. Free time for J.P. Bell is time put to use, and he soon began selling the photographs he had been taking as one of his hobbies. His reputation as a photographer of landscapes, cityscapes, aerials, trains and other subjects grew, as did demand for his prints. He opened a studio (www.jpbellphotography.com) on historic Main Street in Van Buren and began selling his work to area banks, universities, hospitals and collectors.

"I love telling stories with photography. It's my other professional calling," Bell said. "Medicine is always first, but I'm lucky to have found two professions I love."

In November, Bell and John Weddle, MD, left Sparks to open River Valley Urgent Care, Fort Smith's first true urgent care clinic. "Urgent care bridges the gap between primary care and the emergency room, and helps keep them from being overcrowded. Because of our ER backgrounds, Dr. Weddle and I are very comfortable with acute cases and know when to refer patients to one of the hospitals here."

While he's enjoying the less hectic pace of the new clinic—decorated with many of his own prints—as he approaches retirement, Bell's photography, paddling and fly-fishing are not slowing down any time soon. He has several more potential book projects in the pipeline and is apt to spend the weekends conquering rapids or photographing the Ozarks from the air, appreciating life and all the beauties found within it.