Dr. Rachel Downs has lived in the Upstate her whole life; so after completing medical school and a family medicine residency program, her hope was to treat patients right here at home.

Dr. Downs is now accepting new patients as she joins the team of physicians at Medical Group of the Carolinas – Family Medicine – Five Forks.

‘Spreading my wings … right here’

Dr. Downs grew up in Boiling Springs, attended Boiling Springs High School, University of South Carolina Upstate for her undergraduate degree, and then the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville for medical school.

After completing the Greer Family Medicine Residency program through Prisma Health earlier this year, she was eager to join the dedicated team of physicians and providers at Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System.

Her desire has been to take care of patients in her own community, to be of service to the people she has grown to know and love.

“That was our hope in this process, that we’ll be able to stay here and stay local. I wanted to spread my wings and fly … right here,” Dr. Downs said jokingly. “I know the community. I know the people. Home is home.”

Background in behavioral health

Dr. Downs was a nontraditional student, choosing family medicine as a second career after spending several years raising her and her husband’s two children.

She later worked as a mental health technician for the Carolina Center for Behavioral Health in Greer for several years before transitioning into family medicine. The more she worked with clients, the more she saw that practicing medicine would allow her to be more supportive and caring to others.

“Family medicine is part mental health, part preventative health. It’s that whole holistic picture, and you get to know your patients better. They trust you and you can really help guide their care,” Dr. Downs said. “I realized I wanted to do more hands-on decision-making with my patients.”

She enjoys the variety of patients in family medicine, from adults to children and babies, and focuses on aspects of preventative care and lifestyle medicine but also managing things like diabetes and hypertension.

“Each one of those are unique and I enjoy them all,” she said.

When not seeing patients, Dr. Downs enjoys traveling, vacationing and spending time with her family, including her two sisters who also live in the area. 

To make an appointment with Dr. Downs, call MGC – Family Medicine – Five Forks at 864-849-9170.