Dr. Hemken
Meet Dr. Hemken
Experienced
A patient-focused family doctor with a world-wide perspective
Hello and welcome! My name is Abigail Hemken and I have been practicing family medicine from birth to end-of-life hospice care for over 13 years. After receiving my biochemistry degree from Azusa Pacific University, I completed my M.D. and Family Practice residency at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. As a family physician, I was trained in hospital medicine, obstetrics, pediatrics and adult medicine. My training also includes elective rotations in Mexico, Kenya and Zambia, along with serving as a women’s clinic volunteer physician for a month in Pakistan and short-term trips supporting local doctors in both Egypt and Iraq.
After completing my residency, I joined a physician-owned practice in Carroll, Iowa. Four years later, I met my husband and transferred to their Iowa Falls location where I continued to practice full scope family medicine until February of 2022.
Direct Primary Care
Seeking a better way to serve patients
My journey to open my own practice under the direct primary care model started with the COVID-19 pandemic. I wasn’t able to see my sick patients in the office and there was nothing I could do to treat them. I felt helpless. The official narrative across the country was “stay home until you can’t breathe, then go to the emergency room”. That went against everything I believed as a doctor.
Opening my own clinic allows me the freedom to treat patients for COVID and those with long-haul symptoms using the most up-to-date information and protocols. It allows me to continue my family medicine practice while expanding my treatment options and spending more time with my patients.
Because my practice in Ames is membership-based, I have time to listen to my patients and get to the root of their concerns without the pressures of a typical clinic. It also allows me to develop a treatment plan that is right for the patient by including them in the decision-making process.
Not involving insurance means there is no middle-man interfering with the patient’s health care – just the patient and doctor deciding what is the best plan based on medical knowledge, science and patient preference.
My healthcare philosophy
With a renewed appreciation for the Hippocratic Oath, I consider myself an integrated medicine provider and I am working to expand my knowledge in integrated and functional medicine. My travels around the world have influenced my approach to medicine. When I was in places with limited resources, I was amazed at the capacity of local doctors to treat their patients and have great outcomes in spite of not having the resources I would expect to have here in the States. When there is a crisis (i.e. COVID), they don’t just sit around and wait for someone to tell them what to do; they innovate based on their medical knowledge and experience.
More about me
One of my favorite things about family practice is caring for the whole family! Family is so important to me. My husband is a farmer and he’s also an integral part of running my clinic. I have three children; two boys and a girl. My youngest child was born in July 2022, and is with me in-clinic through the help of a nanny. The older two occasionally join him. I like to cook, ride horses, do triathlons, and love being outside and active!
Get Started
Become a Member or Request More information
Hemken Family Medicine’s Ames-based clinic provides patient-focused, direct primary care to individuals throughout central Iowa and beyond. Contact the office to learn more about becoming a patient or to make an appointment.
OFFICE HOURS
Monday – 9:00 am – 4:30 pm
Thursday – 9:00 am – 4:30 pm
Friday – 9:00 am – 4:30 pm
Tuesday, Wednesday and weekends *Closed
*Dr. Hemken is available via text and/or telemedicine appointment for acute and urgent issues.