Jessica Tolley-McLendon, M.D.

 

Dr. Jessica Tolley-McLendon, M.D. was born in Augusta, GA, to James and Cheryl Tolley, during her father’s Family Medicine residency. She was raised in Charleston, SC, alongside her younger brother Jimmy. Dr. Tolley-McLendon always enjoyed science and took an early interest in Medicine from watching her father practice Emergency Medicine. In 2008, she graduated from Clemson University where she obtained her Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences. She spent a year working as an Emergency Department Technician, which sealed her desire to attend medical school. She graduated from The Medical University of South Carolina in 2013, and completed her Residency in Emergency Medicine at Cleveland Clinic Akron General in 2016. Dr. Tolley-McLendon is an attending physician with Georgia Emergency Associates. She is also an Assistant Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine with the Medical College of Georgia. Dr. Tolley-McLendon and her husband Donny currently reside in Savannah, GA, with their daughters Ella (7), Sophia (3) and Leia (1).

Who or what inspired you to pursue your career? How did they inspire you?

“My father inspired my pursuit of medicine. I grew up watching him serve our community through medicine. When I was younger, I would sometimes visit him at work to drop off something he may have left at home. I found the Emergency Department to be an exciting place to visit my father. As I got older, I was able to shadow him. My father also loved what he did as a physician, which also drew me to the profession.”