Dr. Jara McDonald is a double board-certified family medicine and obesity medicine physician who opened her own integrative direct primary care practice to spend more time with each of her patients. She believes medicine should be evidence-based and tailored to each individual, and that every patient is unique, important and valuable. Practicing medicine has long been regarded as an “art” and she loves to find the beauty and value in “complex cases”; prevention over cure; incorporating and treating mental health; and, providing patient education.
Born and raised in Nevada, Dr. McDonald completed medical school at the University of Nevada School of Medicine in Reno before completing a rural family medicine residency and practicing rurally for 8 years. She got to Texas as fast as she could, and considers the Texas Hill Country her permanent home. She enjoys cooking, baking, being on the water, and family time with her husband, two sons and their rescue pup.
Her love of learning keeps her constantly reading and researching the newest available evidence to help offer her patients comprehensive care. She has a big personality and an even bigger heart and feels that helping people is her calling.
The daughter of a salesman and a special education teacher, Dr. McDonald loves getting to know each of her patients personally and helping them foster their own strengths. She believes patients are entitled to understand their bodies and their health, and that her role as their physician is to support them in their journey so that they can make the best and most informed decisions for themselves.