A well-traveled Dr. Christine Thurston is home at last in Mandeville

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Wednesday, December 23, 2020

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A well-traveled Dr. Christine Thurston is home at last in Mandeville

Mike Scott, mscott@stph.org

After a youth as a self-described military brat, Dr. Christine Thurston decided to set down roots in Mandeville, where she works for St. Tammany Health System. ‘The sense of community and the way that people just love life and their families, that has always been something that’s so attractive to me,’ Dr. Thurston said. (Photo by Tim San Fillippo / STHS)

It’s a fairly simple question, but if you ask Dr. Christine Thurston where she’s from, you’d better brace for a somewhat complicated answer.

“I’m a military brat, so we moved every two years of my life when I was a kid,” she said.

Consequently, she’s “from” a litany of places where her father, a two-star Coast Guard admiral, was posted: Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Washington D.C. …

Throughout her nomadic youth, however, one place stuck with her.

“We actually lived in Mandeville and New Orleans for a while, so I always knew I wanted to come back here,” she said. “It was just a matter of time.”

That time, as it turns out, is now. Dr. Thurston, an internist, joined the St. Tammany Health System team  Oct. 29, operating out of the St. Tammany Physicians Network office on St. Ann Drive in Mandeville.

As a mother of three young children – ages 4, 5 and 6 – the family-friendly environment on the Northshore feels like a particularly good fit for her. The fact that her mother and now-retired father, as well as her sister, live in Madisonville made it a no-brainer.

Dr. Thurston earned her undergraduate degree from American University in Washington, D.C., then got her medical degree from the Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Blacksburg.

“Then, as soon as I finished my residency, we moved back to Mandeville,” she said. “I started working for the VA and worked there for five years.”

As an internist, she treats the whole body “from head to toe,” but Dr. Thurston said she has a particular interest in women’s health.

Also, given her family’s history and what she describes fondly as an adventure-filled youth – which is how her parents always presented it to her – she’s also got a special place in her heart for members of the military.

“I’m a military brat, so we moved every two years of my life when I was a kid. We actually lived in Mandeville and New Orleans for a while, so I always knew I wanted to come back here."

- Dr. Christine Thurston, STPN Mandeville

“Every generation of my family since the Revolutionary War has been in the military,” she said. “So I just have this really proud, proud history with that. I’m always thankful for the life the military has given us, but I knew I couldn’t do that, so working at the VA was my way of giving back.”

Also, as much as she enjoyed her childhood of travel, she said wanted to give her children the opportunity to put down roots in one place – and she’s happy that place is the Northshore.  

“I’m so happy to move back to the community where I once lived and get an opportunity to really be a local,” she said. “I’m just so excited to be practicing in this community, and I can’t wait to meet and see new patients.”

Dr. Thurston is now accepting new patients. To schedule an appointment, call 985-898-4001.

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