With a passion for medicine

Zach Jacobs knew from an early age he wanted to be a physician.

"My pediatrician, Dr. Dean Rising, was a big influence for me," Dr. Jacobs said in an interview.  "He worked in a large multi-specialty clinic in Springfield, Missouri.  I had pretty significant allergies and asthma as a child, and I was receiving allergy shots from the allergist located on the floor above.  For kids, they allowed them to receive the injections downstairs at the pediatric clinic.  During the waiting period after the injection, instead of staying in the waiting area, I wandered down the hall to where Dr. Rising's office was located and hung out with him while he was not in an exam room.  I probably annoyed him... but he never showed it.  He is retired now but he was an incredible physician.  It was my first exposure to medicine as an artform."

Since then...

Dr. Jacobs went on to attend college at Drury University in Springfield, majoring in Biology and receiving minors in Writing and Global Studies.  He then attended the School of Medicine at the University of Missouri.  "During medical school, I went in thinking I was going to become a general pediatrician like Dr. Rising," he explained.  "But as I went on and started to see patients during clinical rotations, I became drawn more to those patients with allergies and asthma.  I also really liked immunology, getting down to the cellular and molecular level and learning about deficiencies in the immune system, so becoming an allergist and immunologist was a natural extension of that."  After medical school he completed a pediatric residency at MU Children's Hospital in Columbia, and then completed a fellowship in both pediatric and adult allergy and immunology in Kansas City through the UMKC School of Medicine.  

Dr. Jacobs' research has been featured on ABCnews.com, Health.USnews.com, and medscape.com.  He continues to actively participate in clinical research and is involved in educating both medicine residents and allergy and immunology fellows at UMKC.  He has been recognized with an award from The University of Missouri School of Medicine for teaching excellence, received a "Delivering the Difference" award from MU healthcare for his patient care, and was named a "Sky High Patient Service Champion" while at Children's Mercy during fellowship.

He is board-certified in Allergy and Immunology.  He is a member of the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, and Clinical Immunology Society.  He is also one of the founding members of the The Consortium of Independent Immunology Clinics.  He is a clinical assistant professor of medicine at UMKC's medical school.

 Current Practice

Dr. Jacobs arrived at The Center for Allergy & Immunology in 2011.  "It has been a great experience," he said.  "We have a great staff, and I love working with my patients."  The clinic has started to undergo a rapid expansion, Dr. Jacobs explains.  "It is time to push the boundaries of what we can be as a clinic treating allergies, asthma and immunologic disease.  We need to always use the best available evidence, but we can't be afraid to change and offer patients new treatments.  We also have to think more broadly in terms of disease.  Yes, we will treat asthma aggressively with medications and environmental controls and potentially immunotherapy, but there is also evidence that the Mediterranean diet and exercise can positively affect asthma. I want to be different; and I want patients to expect more from me.  I want this clinic to be what they think of when someone asks them what they expect from a physician and a medical office."