Biography
James K. Rone, MD is a board-certified specialist in Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism. He has been in private practice at Murfreesboro Medical Clinic (http://www.mmclinic.com/) in Murfreesboro TN since 1998, and was a board of directors member there from 2012 to 2015. From July 2015 to January 2018 he served as President of Murfreesboro Medical Clinic, one of the five largest medical groups in the Nashville area. He is a licensed physician in both Tennessee and South Carolina. He is a native of Columbia SC and earned his BS in biology in 1983, and medical degree in 1987, both from the University of South Carolina, where he was honored with Phi Beta Kappa membership. Dr. Rone completed internal medicine residency at Keesler U.S. Air Force Medical Center in Biloxi MS, and did his endocrinology fellowship at Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center in San Antonio TX.
He served 11 years continuous active duty with and is honorably discharged from the US Air Force, having risen to the rank of Lt. Colonel (Select), and awarded the Meritorious Service Medal. During those years he served as Chief of Endocrinology and Assistant Chief of Medicine at Keesler Medical Center, instructing and mentoring countless medical students and residents. He held the academic position of clinical assistant professor of medicine at the University of South Alabama from 1992-1998. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and holds memberships in The Endocrine Society, the American Diabetes Association, the American and European Thyroid Associations, and the Obesity Society. His professional publications include papers in peer-reviewed national and international journals and a chapter in the 1st and 2nd editions of the Saunders Manual of Medical Practice.
His first book, The Thyroid Paradox: How to Get the Best Care for Hypothyroidism, was published in 2007. It sprouted from nearly 20 years patient-care experience with thyroid disease as a primary clinical focus. Add to that, Dr. Rone was diagnosed himself with hypothyroidism in the early 1990s, and so approaches the subject from the standpoint of both physician expert and patient. This perspective has infused Dr. Rone, his practice, and writing with the conviction that today’s physician and non-physician providers alike often miss hypothyroidism—and when they do diagnose it, they often under-treat it. This “paradox” (since hypothyroidism is a known common disorder) stems from a laudable, well-intentioned cautious streak in mainstream medicine. Unfortunately patients get underserved and sometimes alienated by this approach, driving some toward less-well-proven, possibly less-safe alternative therapies. Dr. Rone’s passion is to re-shape mainstream thyroid-disease management, without “throwing out the baby with the bathwater.” This, in fact, he is pleased to say, seems to be happening--albeit slowly.
In 2013 he self-published What About My Weight?, another book of practical advice drawn from 30 years of clinical experience with overweight and obese patients. In 2019 he self-published a larger companion volume, titled, The 37 Things That Might Be Making You Fat, a more comprehensive and updated, evidence-based guide to issues impacting the dual epidemics of obesity and diabetes.
Dr. Rone and his wife, Susan—a “retired” nurse practitioner, now avid equestrienne, from Upstate New York—share their farm outside Nashville with three cats (Baxter, Nora, and Aubrey), four horses (Spenser, Koretta, Mikey, and Shilo), and a dog named Emma. He splits his time between an active medical practice and writing, both medical nonfiction, and novel-length mystery fiction--what Dr. Rone calls "Southern Noir."