Dr. Mikeska is west Texas through and through. Born in Paint Rock, he grew up on a farm with his mother, father and three sisters, in Water Valley, just northwest of San Angelo. "I went to Water Valley High School and graduated in the top 10 of my class. Of course, there were only 10 in the class. That helped a lot."

He went one year to Angelo State, and then joined the army. "I went all the way to Japan to find out I wanted to be a west Texas doctor. I served as a med tech in the pharmacy of 1,000 bed military hospital. I knew then I wanted to be a physician."

After serving his country, Mikeska attended medical school at UT Southwestern in Dallas, and completed an internship at Methodist Hospital in Dallas; all this on the G.I. Bill and other money.

Dr. Mikeska started his long medical career in Clyde and then moved to Albany. That's where he met Dr. Gary Fambro, DVM, and Chairman of the board of Stephens Memorial Hospital. Dr. Fambro invited Dr. Mikeska to open a practice in Breckenridge. That was a year ago. "I'm here to stay."

"There are three important advantages to working with these other fine practitioners in our new medical center. The first is coverage. With us working together, we can effectively cover the county by providing quality healthcare, even if one of us is away. Second is support. Assisting one another in caring for all the patients reduces cost, and increases time and availability to see more patients. Third, we can share medical expertise. In the art of medicine this is invaluable."

"Two of the most important things in medical care today are prevention and health enhancement. You can live longer and enjoy better health as you age. Also, we want to address issues like overweight problems, smoking cessation, drug and alcohol abuse. Many patients need help in these areas, and we can provide it."