MEDICAL SCHOOL UPDATES
ARCOM : Medical Students Volunteer at Charitable Clinic
Students at the Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine ( ARCOM ) are continuing to make positive contributions to the region by volunteering their time to help with local charitable organizations . One organization benefitting from ARCOM student volunteers is the Still Clinic . Named after the founder of osteopathic medicine Andrew Taylor Still , MD , DO , The Still Clinic is sponsored by the ARCOM chapter of the Student American Academy of Osteopathy and is located at the Good Samaritan Clinic in Fort Smith .
The Still Clinic is open once a month and is completely run by student doctors . This includes all logistics work , planning , and recruiting of DO faculty to serve as clinic providers . Students work alongside the DO faculty to provide osteopathic manipulative treatment and musculoskeletal evaluations to patients that have been referred to the clinic .
In addition , bilingual students volunteer to accommodate Spanish-speaking patients . ARCOM students have resumed their Medical Spanish classes , led by Monica Rojas , MD , Medical Director of International Medicine & Cultural Education at ARCOM . Dr . Rojas ’ class meets twice a week and includes activities , games , and conversation in Spanish .
Dr . Rojas stated , “ I also give cultural notes for students to understand the
Hispanic community includes people from many different countries and each of them has their own way of expressing their issues . It ’ s important for medical students to understand that one word can mean different things to two people from different countries .” ■
NYITCOM : Student Profile - Colin Mayer
Rogers native Collin Mayer had never thought much about a career in medicine until a harrowing experience during his high school years inspired him to pursue a profession that would allow him to help people in unique ways .
“ My best friend in high school developed acute myeloid leukemia and ultimately passed away from it ,” Mayer said . “ He was a very selfless person who would do anything for anyone , and it was awful to watch him go through that . I decided I wanted to help people avoid situations like that as much as possible , and I knew medicine would be a great avenue for that .”
Mayer ’ s journey led him from Northwest Arkansas to Hendrix College , where he majored in biology , minored in chemistry and played linebacker on the Warrior football team . Having spent most of his life in Rogers and Conway , more affluent parts of the state than many others , Mayer had never really experienced health care disparities , but one of his first exposures to a medically-underserved community impacted him greatly .
“ One of my teammates who was from a rural part of Northeast Arkansas told me that his family usually had to drive an hour to Jonesboro to get medical care ,” Mayer said . “ When I went home with him one weekend , I noticed that in that town there was one medical clinic and the doctor was only there once a week . That made me start to consider how great it would be to practice in an area where the need for physicians is significant .”
Upon graduating from Hendrix , Mayer ended up not too far from that teammate ’ s hometown . In 2019 , he began medical school at New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine in Jonesboro , where he received numerous opportunities to participate in health
outreach programs in rural communities , like the Delta Care-A-Van . At those free health screenings , Mayer again saw real needs and felt great opportunity .
“ The location of NYITCOM at A-State is so perfect for its purpose ,” Mayer said . Jonesboro is in the middle of the Delta with so many rural areas right around it . Those are really the people that we ’ re trying to target . I love the clinical rotation sites around the state that give us multiple locations that expose us to a lot of different demographics within them .”
Mayer is scheduled to graduate from NYITCOM at A-State next spring and plans to specialize in family medicine . He hopes to match into a program in his home state that will allow him to give back to the people who have supported him so much .
“ The state and the schools have invested so much time in me and I want to give back here ,” Mayer said . “ Arkansas has one of the largest physician disparities in the country . I want to practice in a community that wants me and needs me . I love the state so much and I feel very fortunate to call Arkansas home .” ■
54 THE JOURNAL OF THE ARKANSAS MEDICAL SOCIETY