Training Local: Growing the Arkansas Physician Pipeline

Training Local: Growing the Arkansas Physician Pipeline

There are two key components to adequately addressing a physician shortage, and they both involve opportunity. First, you have to create medical schools in the geographic areas where you need more doctors to practice, and then you have to open new residency programs for those future doctors, where those new doctors receive their specialty training.  We sit down with Dr Amanda Deel, a family medicine physician and Associate Dean of Graduate Medical Education and Academic Affairs at NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine in Arkansas, to explain how graduate medical education really works and why residency creation is the clearest path to building a stable physician workforce. We dig into the numbers that drive everything, including how often doctors practice near where they train and what Arkansas retention looks like when medical school and residency both happen in-state. From there, we talk about the statewide shift from years of little to no program growth to dozens of new residency programs, and what hospitals and communities had to do to make that turnaround real. We also unpack why bringing residents and medical students into community hospitals lifts quality, strengthens teamwork, and can even make it easier to recruit specialty care. Then we look forward, including plans to train family physicians in rural Arkansas for rural Arkansas through a Mississippi County partnership, with a focus on access, maternity care, telemedicine support, and the realities of practicing with fewer specialists nearby. If you care about rural health, physician pipeline strategy, and healthcare access in Arkansas, this conversation connects the dots. Subscribe, share this with someone who cares about local healthcare, and leave a review with the one workforce question you want us to tackle next. @Arkansasstatemedianetwork.com. 00:00 - Guest Introduction: Dr. Amanda Deel 03:00 - What is GME? Explaining Residency to the Public 07:00 - The 100-Mile Rule: Where Doctors Actually Practice 09:45 - The Power of In-State Training Statistics 12:15 - Arkansas’s Stagnant History: 1992 to 2014 14:50 - The 2015 Turnaround: NYITCOM’s Massive Impact 17:30 - Community Hospitals and the DO Advantage 20:10 - The Mississippi County Hospital Partnership 23:00 - Current GME Needs in Arkansas and the Delta 25:40 - How to Pitch Hospitals on New Residency Programs 28:15 - Dr. Deel’s Final Word on Healthcare Access

Jonesboro Day to Day: Medical Student Life in Northeast Arkansas with Taylor Gipson, Lilly Figgins and Zariyae Moore

Med school is hard enough without feeling trapped in one building, one routine, or one social circle. We sit down with three current NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine, Arkansas students, Taylor, Lilly Figgins, and Zariyae Moore, to paint an honest picture of day-to-day life at a medical school located on the Arkansas State University campus in Jonesboro, Arkansas. If you’re comparing osteopathic medical schools and wondering what “student experience” actually means, their answers get specific fast. We dig into the practical stuff that shapes your weeks: favorite study spots across a Division I campus, how first-year structure turns into second-year independence, and why having easy access to libraries, quiet rooms, and the student union can make long study days feel manageable. Then we zoom out to student life and leadership, from specialty interest groups and skills practice like suturing, to student government advocacy where student voices reach deans through meetings, feedback, and real follow-up. We also talk about culture. These students describe a collaborative environment where peers help each other, faculty know you by name, and community shows up in unexpected ways, like “Run With The Dean” followed by coffee. Finally, we cover what living in Jonesboro is like, how students use athletics and fitness resources for a real break, and the advice they wish they’d heard as pre-meds: don’t chase perfection, don’t compare timelines, and take opportunities as they come. If this helped you picture your own path to medicine, subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a review so more future doctors can find it. @Arkansasstatemedianetwork.com. @NYITCOM 0:00 Welcome And Why This School 2:04 Studying Across A Full Campus 3:27 Favorite Spots For Breaks And Focus 5:55 Home Vs Campus Study Routines 6:34 Student Organizations And Interest Groups 8:58 Student Government And Advocacy 12:11 Faculty Relationships And Run With Dean 14:50 Collaboration Over Competition Culture 17:00 Living In Jonesboro Day To Day 19:16 Sports Games And Fitness Resources 20:33 Advice For Pre Med Students 22:45 How To Learn More And Closing

Beyond the Degree: Training High-Impact Physician-Leaders with Dr. Shane Speights

A medical degree can teach you anatomy, pharmacology, and how to pass boards, but it cannot automatically teach you how to change the health of a whole region. That’s the gap we dig into with Dr. Shane Speights, Dean of NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State University, as we explain what we mean by “More Than A Medical School” and why fit matters as much as prestige for medical school applicants. We talk about the mission behind NYITCOM Arkansas and why it was built in the Delta: physician workforce shortages, rural healthcare access, and the need for more frontline doctors in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, and other primary care fields. Dr. Speights shares how a simple media interview about the flu vaccine made him realize the scale of education and advocacy, and why we want future physicians to show up not only in exam rooms but also in community decision-making that shapes health outcomes. We also break down what it means to be a DO (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine): the same foundation as MD training, plus a whole-person, prevention-forward mindset and extra hours of hands-on osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT). From there, we get practical about what truly separates training models, including how community-based clinical rotations can put students directly beside attending physicians, building confidence and readiness for residency. If you’re choosing between multiple acceptances or wondering where you’ll grow the most, this conversation gives you a clear lens for evaluating mission, training, and impact. Subscribe for more, share this with a premed who’s deciding where to apply, and leave a review with the kind of physician you hope to become. @Arkansasstatemedianetwork. 0:00 Introduction and the Why Behind This School 1:17 The Impact of Medical Education and Servant Leadership 2:56 Defining "More Than a Medical School" 5:44 The NYIT and Arkansas State Partnership Story 8:02 Brand Recognition: The Value of the NYIT Name 8:37 Addressing the Arkansas Physician Shortage 9:51 Intentional Location: Serving the Delta Region  10:45 What is a DO? The Osteopathic Mindset 13:34 Focus on Preventative Medicine and Wellness 15:13 Curricular Rigor: MD vs. DO Training 16:22 The Primary Care Mission and Rural Need 18:11 Recruiting for Local Practice and Regional Growth 20:30 Differentiators: Population Health and Advocacy 21:42 The Community-Based Rotation Advantage 24:46 From Third-Year Clinicals to Local Contracts 25:41 Why Future Students Choose NYITCOM Arkansas 27:00 Resources and Next Steps

Navigating the Final Milestone of Medical School with Rebekah Herring

The residency Match can decide your specialty, your city, and the next several years of your life, yet most people only hear rumors about how it works. We sit down with Rebekah Herring, senior career advisor at NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine, to explain the NRMP Match in plain language, including how rank lists become a legally binding contract once the algorithm runs. We also get practical about what actually moves the needle. Rebecca walks through how career advising starts in the first week of medical school, why so many students change direction during third-year rotations, and how a strong plan keeps you on track for audition rotations and the right letters of recommendation. We dig into the building blocks of a competitive residency application and CV: academics, research, presentations and publications, leadership, service, mentoring, and teaching. For osteopathic medical students, we cover the real-world nuances of COMLEX versus USMLE and why some competitive specialties may require extra preparation. We also talk about what happens if a student doesn’t match at first and how SOAP can lead to a successful placement. Finally, we zoom out to mission and outcomes: primary care needs, keeping physicians close to underserved communities in Arkansas and the Delta, and why an active alumni network can open doors. Subscribe, share this episode with a future doctor, leave a review, and follow along at nyit.edu/arkansas and @nyitcomAR. Make sure to also follow us on socials @arkansasstatemedianetwork.

First Look into: More Than A Medical School

Arkansas doesn’t just need more doctors, it needs a stronger pipeline that trains physicians here and keeps them serving Arkansas communities. I sit down with Casey Pierce from NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State to explain why the physician shortage is so urgent, from low physicians-per-capita rankings to a workforce that’s rapidly nearing retirement. We talk about what it takes to build long-term healthcare capacity that reaches rural and underserved towns, not only big city clinics. We also clear up one of the most common points of confusion in medicine: MD vs DO. Casey breaks down what a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine really is, how DOs and MDs share the same ability to practice the full scope of medicine and surgery, and why osteopathic medicine puts extra emphasis on holistic care and root causes. If you’ve ever wondered why a physician might ask about sleep, stress, diet, and movement alongside your symptoms, this conversation connects the dots. Then we preview what’s next for Freshman to Physician content at Arkansas State Media Network Studios, including “The Pre Med Playbook” and “More Than Medical School.” We share how these long-form conversations can help pre-med students, parents, and prospective applicants understand admissions expectations, student support, and the unique NYIT and A-State partnership that’s training future physicians in Jonesboro. Subscribe, share this with a future doctor, and leave a review so more people can find the show.