Danielle was born in western Oklahoma and has been an OKC dweller since 2006. She graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Science in Biology with honors in 2013 and completed her Master of Science Physician Associate Program at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in 2016. During one of her PA school rotations, she fell in love with rural family medicine and decided to venture to Buffalo, Oklahoma from 2017-2020 for her first PA job. She took care of patients in the clinic, the emergency room, and in the critical access hospital. This first job was pivotal for Danielle’s medical career as she saw everything from newborns to hospice patients. She loved the close relationships she formed with her patients in this slower-paced town.
Eventually, commuting 6 hours every week became too hard, so she moved back to OKC full time. From 2020-2023 she worked at a federally funded healthcare center that focused on uninsured, marginalized communities, undocumented immigrants, and the medically complex. While this job was very important in exposing Danielle to many types of people and very sick patients, she found herself missing the close relationships with her patients that she had in rural Oklahoma. After realizing this and facing burnout after the COVID-19 pandemic, she decided to not be another “cog” in the big medical system in America. She then decided to take the leap with her hubbie (AKA Dr. Vinnedge) and open a direct primary care in downtown OKC.
In her free time you’ll find Danielle puttering around in her garden, rocking out to Taylor Swift, cuddling with her dogs (Luna and Winston) while reading the latest fantasy book, or hosting her friends over at the house.