An internal medicine physician in Elberton, GA, Joshua “Josh” Est

 An internal medicine physician in Elberton, Georgia, Joshua “Josh” Estep, MD, has served with Elbert Memoral Hospital since 2022. Dr. Josh Estep, who earned his MD in 2016, has made significant contributions to research in prion disease, also known as TSE (transmissible spongiform encephalopathy). His experience includes a fellowship at the Prion Research Center at Colorado State University.

Prion disease is a broad category of neurodegenerative disorders that occur in humans and other animals. Quite rare, these disorders share many characteristics, including loss of neurons due to spongiform changes and a reduction in the inflammatory response.

Prion disease takes its name from the pathogenic agents that cause it. Although their exact function remains a scientific mystery, normal prions exist abundantly in the brain without leading to TSE. Abnormally folded prions, however, can reproduce autonomously, spreading biological infection. Generally progressing rapidly, this infection leads to brain damage and death.

Prion disorders that impact humans include Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker syndrome, and fatal familial insomnia. Among the prion disorders that impact animals, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (“mad cow” disease) affects cattle. and chronic wasting disease affects deer, elk, and moose.

Viewpoints Accessed by Appalachian Trail

Based in Newport, Oregon, Dr. Joshua “Josh” Estep leverages his MD in his practice at Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital. An avid hiker and backpacker, Josh Estep, MD, has had the opportunity to explore the Appalachian Trail.

The Appalachian Trail runs 2,193 miles across mountainous regions of the East Coast, from Georgia to Maine. Much of the hiking is below tree line through thick forest, but there are many exceptional viewpoints located along the trail. In Tennessee, Clingmans Dome rises to 6,643 feet and is served by a visitor’s center. The popular peak offers views that take in seven states, including Virginia, the Carolinas, and Alabama.

Further north in Virginia’s Jefferson National Forest, McAfee Knob is a unique overlook that requires a 4.5-mile hike from the nearest car-accessible trailhead. Although it stands at an elevation of only 1,740 feet, the way the rock precariously extends as an overhang makes it a favorite of photographers and those who dare to stand on it.

Another popular segment of the Appalachian Trail in Virginia is the Grayson Highlands approach to Mount Rogers. The area is accessible through the Massie Gap from US 58 and is known for herds of wild ponies that live on the state’s tallest mountain.

Internal & General Medicine Doctors

Joshua “Josh” Estep, MD, is an alumnus of the University of San Francisco. He later received his MD from New York’s University of Medicine and Health Sciences. A resident of Newport, Oregon, Dr. Josh Estep currently serves as an internal medicine hospitalist at Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital.

Both internal medicine doctors, or internists, and general medicine doctors, or general practitioners, are considered primary care physicians, since they often serve at the first point of contact for a person seeing medical care. However, a key difference between them is the patients they treat. An internist only treats adults from the age of 18, while a general practitioner can treat patients of all ages. So, the latter can treat an individual from the time they're a child to their old age. They are also known as family medicine doctors for this reason.

Another difference is that a general practitioner doesn't specialize in any field of medicine, however, an internist can specialize in issues that affect major organs. So, they could be a cardiologist, gastroenterologist, rheumatologist, etc. You would visit a general medicine doctor if you're having stomach pains, for example, but if your condition doesn’t improve after they examine you and prescribe medication, you may go to an internist who specializes in gastroenterology.

Lastly, an internal medicine doctor can operate on their patients to treat their condition, but a general practice doctor cannot. In most cases, they’ll diagnose a disease and recommend a treatment plan.

What is the Appalachian Trail?

Since 2020, Joshua “Josh '' Estep, MD, has worked as an internal medicine specialist at the Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital in Newport, Oregon. Prior to that, he served as a resident physician at AU-UGA Medical Partnership in Athens, Georgia, following the completion of his MD.. In his free time, Dr. Josh Estep enjoys hiking, and has explored the Appalachian Trail.

Exceeding 2000 miles, the Appalachian National Scenic Trail is a marked hiking trail that runs through 14 US states across the South and Northeast, including Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. Starting at Springer Mountain in Georgia and ending at Mount Katahdin in Maine, it is considered the world’s longest hiking trail and has over two million hikers on a section of the trail each year. While most of the trail runs through wildlands, some parts of it cross towns and farms.

Thousands of hikers attempt to travel the full distance of the Appalachian Trail each year, but only one in four completes the trip, which is estimated to take five to seven months to finish. The trail was established in 1937 but it took over a decade to create. Currently, it is maintained by the nonprofit Appalachian Trail Conservancy, the United States Forest Service, and more than 30 hiking clubs who collaborate with the government authorities for repair and upkeep.