Karen Elmore, M.D.

Karen Elmore, M.D., is the founding physician and medical director at Mountain Laurel Internal Medicine, which opened in 2017 as the Johnston Memorial Hospital (JMH) Internal Medicine residency clinic. Prior to her current position, she served as a physician at Saltville (Virginia) Medical Center from 2005 to 2008, then founded Emory Internal Medicine (EIM) in 2008 as a joint venture between JMH and Emory & Henry College.

Since 2017, Elmore has also served as the clinic director at the JMH Internal Medicine Residency Program. In 2018, she began mentoring new physicians at the clinic, and serves as the associate program director of the residency program and chair of the clinical competency committee. She previously worked as assistant professor of internal medicine at VCU Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia.

Elmore received her bachelor’s degree in animal science from the University of Tennessee in 1993. She began medical school at the University of Tennessee-Memphis, College of Medicine in 1994 and transferred to Virginia Commonwealth University’s Medical College of Virginia in 1996, where she completed her degree in 1998. She completed her postdoctoral training at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond in 2001.

Elmore has been active in primary and secondary education in Abingdon, serving as classroom volunteer to supplement science education, and starting and serving as the coach for the Jr. FIRST Lego League program at Abingdon Elementary School. She also served as a parent sponsor for the Abingdon High School Model General Assembly/Model United Nations Club.

With a strong interest in native plant and vegetable gardening, Elmore completed a program in 2009 to become a Virginia Master Naturalist, and maintains a native plant garden at Munchkin Park in Abingdon. She and her husband have two sons and many pets.