Just months before OAK Orthopedics opened the doors to the new Bourbonnais location in January, the health care company welcomed orthopedic trauma surgeon Dr. Holly Brockman. Brockman, who began with OAK in November 2021, said she specializes in fracture care and generally higher-end injury fracture care — falls from heights, motor vehicle accidents.

Her medical journey began during her undergraduate years at the University of Illinois when she became an EMT and got her license thinking she wanted to do emergency room care.

“It was a very exciting field, and you get to help a lot of people, but I didn’t like that aspect of dropping people off at the ER and then leaving and not really knowing what happened to these people,” Brockman said.

Wanting to go through the whole process of care with a patient, Brockman — whose interest was piqued by seeing a little bit of everything in the ER — shifted gears and began focusing on the trauma aspect of medicine. This led her to orthopedics, as she said she tended to like “the traumatic injuries and the broken bones.”

After undergrad, she continued her studies by attending Southern Illinois University for medical school. She would then do her residency at Akron General — which is now part of Cleveland General — before continuing on to the University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo. for a fellowship program.

“I really sought out those [orthopedic] opportunities in medical school to see if that’s really what I liked, and I did,” she recalled. “Then in residency, you see all the different aspects of orthopedics and I still only really liked the fracture care portion of it. So I said, ‘well maybe this is my calling and what I should do.’”

<strong>MEET HOLLY</strong>

Originally from Mazon, the doctor now lives in Marseilles, where she has a lot of family nearby. She credits her family and friends for being helpful in supporting her “unpredictable” job.

“I felt like I needed to have my family and friends and core support system close to my family in case I couldn’t get home when I thought I was going to.”

Brockman has two children and is married to a farmer, who she describes as her “rock.”

“He, by all means, dropped what he was doing more than once,” she said of her husband.

She said in addition to her family, her inlaws are great with helping out on the homefront.

“[With their help] I’m able to focus on what I’m doing,” she said. “You can put the rest out of your mind when you need to, and pick it back up when you need to.”

When not busy working, Brockman said she can be found chasing after her kids and helping out on the farm. She also said that gardening, yard work and cleaning are her “stress relievers.”

“It’s something I can fail at and it doesn’t really matter,” she remarked of gardening.

<strong>MEET DR. BROCKMAN</strong>

Brockman works between the Bourbonnais office and the Frankfort location. Of the nearly seven months she’s worked with OAK, she said it’s “been a fantastic and supportive experience.”

Prior to joining OAK, she was in a general orthopedic practice in Ottawa where she “did a little bit of everything.”

Missing her orthopedic trauma training, the doctor wanted to return to “my love and my passion.”

“At OAK, I get to do that,” she said. “I have partners who like the sports aspect and others that like the spine or the joint replacement, so I really get to focus on fracture care and trauma.”

She described the new Bourbonnais-based facility, located at 6712 N. Convent Street, as having all of the bells and whistles. Brockman said the staff is “fantastic” and the space is “beautiful and wonderful.”

“It’s, by far, the nicest group of people and the nicest place that I’ve worked.”

So, what’s her favorite part of the job?

“Honestly, it’s kind of the last visit with patients where I say, ‘Alright, things look good — we don’t need to see you again,’” she shared. “I think that’s my favorite part — when they’re all better. They’ve gotten through this traumatic, not planned and unpredictable time in their life … Once they get back to life as normal, that’s my favorite part.”

When asked what advice she would give to someone considering the medical field, Brockman said: “First, I think you have to figure out if this is something you love; because if you don’t love it, it’s not worth it. It’s not worth the time and effort to put into it. If this is what a person decides they want to do, then I think you have to be willing to put in the work.”

OAK Orthopedics is located at 6712 North Convent St., Bourbonnais. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, call 815-205-3238 or go to <a href="https://www.oakortho.com" target="_blank">oakortho.com</a>.