Members of the medical school's first class have found a home in Elkin, where Campbell partners in the Rural Track training program.
Dr. Patrick Stevens slides into a booth in the corner of a popular restaurant in downtown Elkin, North Carolina.
He's there for a meeting and his smile is warm and welcoming. It's as if he's greeting an old friend or colleague of his, rather than someone he's just met.
Mr. Stevens, the family physician, seemed really happy to be there. We talk about his family, hometown, and career at Hugh Chatham Health. He talks about Campbell University and the Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine. He graduated from his medical school in 2017 as the first batch of students.
Stevens is a family physician near Jonesville and part of the Hugh Chatham Medical Network. In a special way, it's all part of the Campbell family. His wife, Aubrey, will begin her third year at Campbell School of Medicine this summer. She also plans to work in family medicine. Both are from the South Bend, Indiana area and graduated from Indiana University. They moved to the Elkin area in 2022 with their three children, 19-year-old Connor. Molly, 16 years old. and Mad, 14 years old.
Patrick Stevens is director of family medicine at Hugh Chatham, a network that includes an 81-bed nonprofit community hospital about two hours from Buies Creek. In a brand new role, Stevens is an associate in North Carolina's unique residency program where he also serves as director of the program.
Hugh Chatham Health and Campbell School of Medicine, in conjunction with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, have partnered on a designated regional track training program. Although Campbell has multiple residency programs, this is Campbell's first foray into RuralTrack, during which all or some participating residents gain urban and rural experience, according to ACGME. Training goals are consistent with the mission of the School of Medicine. We serve our communities with the goal of retaining physicians in rural North Carolina.
Campbell was initially attractive to the Stevens for a number of reasons, including its strong support system, focus on osteopathy and commitment to local medical directors.
“I found Campbell because obviously I was applying to medical school and Campbell has a rural emphasis,” Patrick said. “I applied and interviewed at a few different places, but Campbell was unique in that way.”
Mr. Campbell sold the vision, he said. Focus on and transform rural health care.
“They could have put (the medical school) in Raleigh. They could have put it anywhere,” he said. “But they wanted to emphasize rural health care.”
Aubrey's route to Campbell was a little more circuitous.
Her background is in outreach and public health. She majored in anthropology and Spanish during her undergraduate years, after which she earned her master's degree in Spanish and taught Spanish as an adjunct instructor at Indiana University South Bend. After Patrick returned to Indiana for her training, her interest in pursuing a career in her medical field as a family physician began to be piqued.
“As a family physician, you manage the care of all your patients, but you are also the point of contact to get to know them, talk about them, and serve as their health and well-being advocate.Healthcare and Health Aubrey took the prerequisites and began considering medical school.
“Of course Campbell was at the top of my list because we had such a great experience here,” she said. “Patrick felt very well supported and our family felt very well supported as well. We are a family of three children under the age of eight and I never felt isolated at school. There was no. I always felt very comfortable here.”
Aubrey remembers a session on osteopathic medicine led by Dr. William F. Morris during Patrick's orientation at Campbell. Morris, founding chair of the medical school's Department of Osteopathic and Manipulative Medicine, passed away in 2015.
“He was phenomenal,” Aubrey said. “He gave a presentation to his family…and it amazed me. I didn't know much about (osteopathic medicine). I felt like I learned a lot from listening.”
A holistic approach. body, mind, spirit. structure and function.
“I knew I wanted to go into primary care,” Patrick says, “because of the osteopathic philosophy of holistic health care and the specialized training I gained in musculoskeletal medicine. That thought process was a big selling point for me.
“I didn't know much about it at first, but the more I looked into it, the more I was like, 'This makes perfect sense to me.' So we went that route.”
Aubrey is doing some clinical rotations in Salisbury, but the majority of her rotations will be in her hometown of Hugh Chatham during her third and fourth years. He and his family returned to his hometown in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
“Elkin is a really great town,” she said.
Patrick interviewed at more than a dozen medical facilities and networks around the state before choosing Elkin as his final stop.
“I knew I didn't want to move anymore,” said Patrick, who estimated he would move about seven times in 10 years. “There are a lot of unknowns in the process of graduating from medical school,” he says. “So we said, 'If only we could settle in an area where we knew we would want to retire.'
“As soon as I got out of the car, I said (to Aubrey), after meeting the people, after being interviewed, this is a little bit different… and a lot of it is just a matter of the people, their willingness to work. “They are with you and willing to listen to your concerns…that’s really great. This really is the perfect place for us. ”
The Rural Track partnership will be relatively small, at least at the start, with four residents expected to participate each year. Ultimately, he will have 12 trainees participating in the three-year program. They are trained in local programs and, optimistically, will want to practice in similar settings, such as Hugh Chatham and nearby northwestern North Carolina.
Interviews for admission to the rural track will begin in the fall, and the first residency class at Hugh Chatham will begin in summer 2025.
