Rotary Club of Marlin welcomes Dr. Michael Joe Bennington

Rotary Club International is dedicated to causes that improve lives, and more. 

On Wednesday, Sept. 29, members of the Rotary Club of Marlin gravitated towards Dr. Michael Joe Bennington, welcoming him as a physician at Falls Community Hospital and Clinic in Marlin, Texas. His medical specialization is Family Medicine. 

As a family medicine physician, Dr. Bennington  is dedicated to improving lives by attending the total health care of the individual and the family. Family medicine is the specialty in breadth which integrates the biological, clinical, and behavioral sciences. The scope of family medicine is not limited by age, sex, organ system, or disease entity. 

With an ingratiating talent for discourse punctuated with jocularity, Dr. Bennington explains his adventurous journey to being a physician as, “I wasn’t smart enough to get into veterinary school.” Don’t be alarmed, the fact is Dr. Bennington maintained numerous high-profile professions before becoming a physician. 

Dr. Bennington holds an airman’s certificate chock full of endorsements. He flew for a major transport flight service, gained experience and built flight time. Dr. Bennington is, in fact, a Certified Flight Instructor (CFI). A CFI is required to hold either a commercial pilot certificate or airline transport pilot certificate and an instrument rating. He must also have logged at least 250 hours of flight time. As a CFI, Dr. Bennington is the ultimate professional pilot. A CFI is also the backbone of the aviation community. It is the CFI that passes on all knowledge that pilots in training require.

Unsurprisingly, Dr. Bennington was on demand by a major airline company to pilot their commercial airplanes. As a Pilot in Command (PIC), he would have been legally in charge of the aircraft and its flight safety and operation, and would normally be the primary person liable for an infraction of any flight rule.

In the world of medicine, Dr. Bennington was a sales representative for a medical equipment company in which sales depended on its product demonstration. He instructed gastroenterologists to perform a new procedure using endoscopes. At the time this highly specialized procedure was performed strictly by surgeons. 

Dr. Bennington thereafter determined to enter medical school. He remarks, “I had to study a lot harder than the young medical students, so I did.” 

Dr. Bennington graduated from Texas Tech University Health Science Center School Of Medicine in 2000.

Dr. Michael Joe Bennington is a professional-level card player. He participated in a Las Vegas card-players tournament, which lasted three days and was aired on television. Stakes were a million dollars. How did he fare? Dr. Bennington successfully attained a lion’s share of that one million dollars.

Going back to why he was not admitted into veterinarian school: He applied to veterinarian school but having done more of many other things than studying in his early undergraduate years, his GPA did not meet the requirements. Is there a lesson here for all undergraduate students? Today, with his industrious occupations, drilling education and superlative merits, Dr. Michael Joe Bennington is a welcomed family practice physician; he is an active cause in the improvement of lives.