True Passion

It’s not hard to figure out that Dr. Jan Bury loves babies. Her license plate that says “BABIES” could tip you off, or her email address that also mentions babies; but the most obvious clues are the thousands of babies she delivered and cared for during her 27 years as an OBGYN and seven years as a labor and delivery nurse.

Jan knew from a young age that she wanted to be in health care. When she was 14, she applied to be a candy striper at St. Alexius. At 16, she became a nurse’s aide. She went to college for nursing and graduated from the University of Mary in December 1977.

After a year on the medical floor at St. Alexius, a spot opened in the labor and delivery unit, and there Jan found her true passion. “I always wanted to work in labor and delivery. I was just fascinated with pregnancy and birth,” she said. “My love for obstetrics was born.”

Jan spent seven years as a labor and delivery nurse, but deep down, she wanted to be a doctor and the idea of medical school never left her mind. At the time, she had four children ranging from ages five to ten, and she knew that her chance to go to medical school would be when her youngest began school.

Jan during her time as a labor and delivery nurse.

She didn’t want to move her family too far from Bismarck, so she decided to apply only to the University of North Dakota and walk away from her dream if she did not get in. “My interview was on a frigid December day in Grand Forks. People told me to try to be lighthearted and a little funny during the process,” Jan said. She remembers telling a joke about Sister Michael giving her the only B she ever received in college … in art. She joked that she’s not an artist, and everyone laughed. Soon enough, she received her acceptance letter and moved to Grand Forks in 1986 with her four kids.

Jan with one of the babies she delivered.

“My kids were awesome,” Jan said. “We were in it together; they would go with me to the med school labs in the evening to look at slides or specimens, and I had a suitcase with an entire human skeleton that we had at home.” Jan wonders if these experiences are what inspired three of her daughters to become doctors as well.

Eventually Jan and her family moved back to Bismarck for two years for her clinicals. She married Bob Bury in 1988, who was also an OBGYN. After Jan graduated from medical school, the family moved to Kansas City for her residency in the same field as her husband. “Working in a big city hospital gives you such a breadth of experience and education,” she said. “I thought I died and went to heaven!” The family loved their time in Kansas City and became avid Chiefs fans, but their hearts were still in Bismarck. So, when Jan’s residency was complete, they moved back home in 1994.

Jan said her practice grew quickly, and she enjoyed working with her husband. “Whichever one of us wasn’t working or doing a delivery was responsible for kid stuff and making sure everybody was where they needed to be. The kids were all still home and busy participating in sports and music, but we made it work. We made a good team,” she said.

Dr. Jan Bury and her husband Dr. Bob Bury with their daughters, Dr. Jill Steinle (left), and Dr. Laura Knutson (right).

Together, Bob and Jan have a combined 10 children and 16 grandchildren, with one on the way. Three of their daughters are also doctors: two OBGYNs and one in palliative, or end of life, care. “They grew up seeing both of us as OBGYNs, and I guess it didn’t scare them off!” Jan said. “It was busy, being on call and going in for deliveries, but it was rewarding.”

Bob retired in 2011, and Jan joined him in retirement at the end of August 2021. Jan says that retirement has been much harder than she ever imagined. “My work has been such an important part of who I am as a person,” she said. She’s hoping to spend her time outdoors, reading, being with family, shopping for antiques, and traveling a little, specifically back to Kansas City with her family to cheer on their favorite sports teams.

Jan and her daughter, Jill, doing surgery together.

Looking back, Jan is grateful for the opportunities that shaped her into the person and doctor she became. Sometimes people ask her if she wishes she went to medical school sooner. “If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change it,” Jan said. “I think it made me a better physician to be a nurse first. I feel like you can’t teach somebody how to sit at the bedside with a patient when you’re in medical school. You don’t have the luxury to sit with them for hours at a time, but you do as a nurse. I think that experience gave me a more human touch with the patients and the ability to have that connection with them.”

Dr. Jan Bury received an honorary doctorate at the University of Mary’s 2021 Alumni Awards Banquet, the highest honor bestowed by the University of Mary. Jan received it as a “witness to resilient joy, model of steadfast compassion in health care, and exemplar of professional excellence in medicine.”