Dr. Josh Miller

Kennewick School Board

Focusing on what matters most

Personal Life

Early Years

With his father working as an HR manager for an oil company Dr. Miller moved all over the country while growing up. He found that wherever he lived, whether in big cities or small towns, there was always fun to be had, and amazing people. He was very active in school, sports, and his church. He was involved in Boy Scouts, and became an Eagle Scout. Eventually his family moved to Naperville, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, where he graduated from high school.

Missionary Service

After his freshman year of college, Dr. Miller served a 2 year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. Spending every moment of each day focused on the needs of others helped instill within him a commitment to service and a love for people. Whether helping a family build a home, teaching a group of students English or just sharing a message of hope with a destitute stranger, Dr. Miller discovered that his happiness was found in serving and helping others. This discovery led him to a career in medicine and eventually to become an orthopedic surgeon.

Wife

While in medical school in Los Angeles, California, Dr. Miller met Valerie, a beautiful, blonde hair, blue eyed, southern belle from North Carolina who was working as a traveling nurse. Smitten by her kind heart, fun personality and southern charm, he initially convinced her to date him and after two years of dating, to marry him. Best decision he ever made!

Family

Now the proud father of 4 amazing children, Dr. Miller loves to spend time with his family. Whether its playing games around a table, going on an adventure together or just hanging out on vacation, there is no one Dr. Miller would rather be with than his family. He has coached each of his kid’s soccer or basketball teams throughout the years and loved seeing them develop and grow. His kids currently attend Kamiakin High School, Desert Hills Middle School, and Cottonwood Elementary School.

Faith and Country

Dr. Miller is deeply committed to his country and his faith. Having lived all over the United States as well as outsides its borders, Dr. Miller has witnessed first-hand how special and great this country is. He has a love for the constitution and the freedoms and liberties it provides. He also has a firm faith in God and is a devout Christian. His faith provides not only a moral compass but also emphasizes the importance of treating everyone with love and respect as we are all God’s children and part of the human family. While he is very active in his church, he also respects the beliefs of others, having close friends of all different religious and political persuasions. His actions are guided by the commitment to love God, and love others.

Today

Having lived in the Tri-cities for 9 years, Dr. Miller now proudly calls Kennewick home (it’s the longest he has ever lived in one place by a long shot). He loves the family-friendly atmosphere, the down to earth people, and the plethora of groups, organizations and opportunities here. He loves his work as a sports Orthopedic Surgeon at Northwest Orthopedics and Sports Medicine/Kadlec. You may see him volunteering as a team doctor on the sideline of a high school sporting event, sweating hard playing a game of pickleball with his wife or friends, cheering his kids on at a soccer game, or just sitting quietly at church. Wherever you see him, if you asked how he is doing, Dr. Miller responds honestly, “I’m living the dream!”

Education

High School

Graduating in the top 5 in his class of around 800 students from Naperville Central High school, a public high school in a suburb of Chicago, Dr. Miller had already experienced academic success. He was selected as a National Merit Scholar, Rotary Scholar and Illinois State Scholar and won multiple other awards and scholarships, and was admitted to Brigham Young University on the prestigious Presidential Scholarship.

College

At BYU he continued to excel academically where he majored in microbiology and philosophy with a minor in chemistry. He was also heavily involved in student leadership, serving as the BYU Student Associations Executive Director of Community Service overseeing over 32 different service organizations and programs involving thousands of volunteers.

Medical School

Graduating Cum Laude from BYU he then began medical School at UCLA’s Geffen School of Medicine receiving the Samuel M Goldwyn Scholarship. While there he also received the Dr. Warren Stafford Memorial Scholarship, awarded to one medical student each year for outstanding performance. Following his third year of medical school, Dr. Miller joined UCLA’s Anderson School of Management to complete his MBA with an emphasis in entrepreneurship and health care management. There he was awarded a Wolfen award, given to the top four entrepreneurial UCLA business students. He then completed his final year of medical school and business school concurrently to graduate with both his MD and MBA degrees.

Residency and beyond

Dr. Miller then completed a 5 year Orthopedic Surgery Residency at the Campbell Clinic/University of Tennessee in Memphis, Tennessee. There he was selected to attend the AOA Resident Leadership Forum and awarded the Dr. Rocco Calandruccio Award for medical excellence and leadership. He then completed an Orthopedic Sports Fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis where he served as a team physician for the university’s athletic teams as well as with the St. Louis Rams (NFL) and Blues (NHL). Following completion of his fellowship, Dr. Miller and his family moved to the Tri-cities to join Northwest Orthopedics and Sports Medicine.