LEWISTON, Idaho – Growing up, Levi Jeppson wanted to be a dentist – so much so that dentistry and its history were the focus of his senior project at Lewiston High School.
And that career would have fallen right in line with the advice Jeppson, 32, received from his dad years ago while attending Sacajawea Middle School in Lewiston. His father worked at Regence as a computer specialist, and one day Jeppson joined his dad at work as part of a school career day.
“After I spent the day with my dad, I asked him if he liked his job, and if he could go back and do anything different, what would he do? And he did like his job – he did it for 30 years,” Jeppson said.
But, he also told Jeppson a career in healthcare would be his recommendation.
“The reason being is that you'll never run out of work,” Jeppson said. “While healthcare is constantly developing and changing, people will always need healthcare. I just remember that really sticking with me.”
Healthcare professions – and Lewis-Clark State College – seem to run in the family. Jeppson and all three of his brothers are LC State alumni and practicing or pursuing careers in the healthcare industry: Tucker Jeppson is a radiologist at Gritman Medical Center, Carson Jeppson is in his final years of medical school at the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine, and Gunner Jeppson is doing his residency after studying to be a physician at Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences.
So, Levi planned to pursue dentistry, a path that could give him a robust career with job security. But his passions shifted when attending college.
“Honestly, I can't really tell you what changed, but when I was in my studies at Lewis-Clark State College, I kind of had this epiphany,” he said. “Something told me that I didn't want to (be a dentist) anymore. I couldn't really figure out why, but I just had this really distinct feeling that I didn't want to do that anymore.”
Jeppson ended up studying biology while at LC State, with a minor in Spanish, graduating in the spring of 2019. He was considering paths as a physician, optometrist, or pharmacist. But after the job of physician assistant was mentioned when having a heart-to-heart with his older brother, Jeppson became intrigued.
He then had an enlightening conversation with a longtime acquaintance who happened to be a practicing orthopedics physician assistant.
“I was going to church with this gentleman who I knew for a long time, but I didn't know he was a physician assistant,” Jeppson said. “When talking, I asked him what he did, and he said he was a PA. So I got to talking with him and did a little more research into it and decided that's the route I wanted to go.”
This gentleman also played a key role in Jeppson’s decision to specialize in orthopedics, inviting Jeppson to shadow him at the clinic and get a look at the operating room.
“I was able to spend time with him and his surgeon,” Jeppson said. “And watching what they do – the two of them have worked together for so long, they're just a well-oiled machine in the operating room. I mean, the things that they can do are incredible.”
While getting his bachelor’s degree at LC State and figuring out his long-term career goals, Jeppson was working at the school’s bookstore.
“That was great, I loved doing it. But I had a young family, a wife and a young child at home,” he said. “I thought to myself – I was taking 20 credits a semester, how am I going to take all these credits? How am I going to work and provide? And how also am I going to gain the healthcare experience that I need to go to PA school?”
He then learned about the LC State Work Scholar program through Erin Cassetto, who was the director of the program at the time.
The program allows students to work around 10 hours a week at participating businesses in the area, and in return they gain professional experience, are paid a stipend, and earn a full tuition scholarship with LC State.
Jeppson was connected with the Snake River Community Clinic as their first work scholar. In the role, he provided general administrative assistance as well as assisting in the pharmacy and recording vital signs.
“I was able to help serve members of the community there. It was just a real win-win,” he said. “Not only was I able to help these people who are underserved get healthcare access, but I was also able to dive right in and get that healthcare experience, and hours needed for PA school.”
With those hours in hand, Jeppson graduated and went on to train as a physician assistant at Idaho State University, practicing at a few facilities around the state before returning to Lewiston.
“My wife and I both felt safe here – growing up in the LC Valley was very safe and a great community,” he said. “We've lived a few other places, and we just knew that Lewiston, as far as raising a family, was where we wanted to do it.”
The Lewiston-Clarkston Valley is also where he felt drawn to serve. In March, Jeppson joined the orthopedics department at TriState Health in Clarkston, and before that he was with Catalyst Medical Group in Lewiston.
“I just feel like this community has given me so much and helped me become the person I am today, especially career-wise,” he said. “I certainly attribute a lot of that to my mentors, teachers, and professors here in the LC Valley, and I feel like that's a small way in which I can serve the people of this community.”
When working at the Snake River Community Clinic, Jeppson saw first-hand the reality of healthcare in rural America – something he continues to observe in his current role with TriState.
“We certainly are a rural healthcare community,” he said. “Our patients lack resources and I see that clearly every day in the work I do in orthopedics. I see folks who have lived with debilitating pain for years, not only because of cost of care, but also access to care. … I feel like we are providing a great opportunity for people to get the care they need.”
Provide that care and addressing his patients’ pain continues to be a driving force in Jeppson’s work.
“The people that I see, their ailments for the most part are very treatable,” he said. “We have either in-office procedures or surgical interventions that we can do that really alleviate people of their pain and their symptoms.”
Jeppson takes pride in being able to reduce or eliminate that pain to allow his patients to return to their passions.
“What's life if you can't do the things you want to do, and the things you love doing that bring you joy?” Jeppson said. “The procedures and the options we have bring people great relief of their symptoms. And I get to be a small part of that. Helping people from their worst get back to their best – it's just a very rewarding experience.”
Jeppson, and his three brothers, are great examples of one of the many ways LC State is helping meet the healthcare needs of north Idaho.