How Jefferson County Students Can Reach Medical School Through LECOM And Mercy

A lot of students can picture themselves in a white coat, but they cannot picture how to get there or how their family could ever pay for it. We sit down with Jefferson R-7 Superintendent David Haug and Jefferson County Commissioner Dennis Gannon to lay out a clear, local, affordable route into medicine through the LECOM early entry medical program and Mercy’s connection to clinical training. The point is not hype. It is a real pathway a high school student can understand and plan for.

We talk about what “early entry” actually changes: less guesswork, fewer dead ends, and a more guided progression from high school coursework to earning college credit, moving through Jefferson College, completing undergraduate work, and then stepping into medical school. Dennis shares how he started out skeptical about whether a program like this could work here and why meeting medical students flipped that doubt into genuine excitement. We also zoom out to why this matters for Jefferson County’s future, especially for rural healthcare access and keeping talented students from feeling forced to leave home to chase opportunity.

The conversation gets honest about the barriers families feel most: tuition shock, expensive prep, and the stress around exams like the MCAT. We come back to one simple belief that guides the whole discussion: when we have a smart, engaged kid, money should not be the barrier that stops them. If you care about affordable medical education, building a local physician pipeline, and giving students a practical plan, press play. Subscribe, share this with a parent or student, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

Transcript

Why LECOM Matters Locally

SPEAKER_01 0:00

I'm David Haug, Superintendent of the Jefferson Or 7th School District, and I'm joined by Dennis Gannon, Commissioner of Jefferson County. And we're here to talk about what we see as the benefits of the Lee Comm program, maybe from two different angles. You see it as the benefit of the county and the kids, and I see how connecting kids into possibly the medical field. So kind of go through what you see the benefits of LeeCom and Mercy's connection, what it's going to do for Jefferson County down the road.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

You know, David, I think that my vision of what I see, I see an opportunity for students that are in Jefferson R7, St. Pius, St. Genevieve, Imperial Arnold, those school districts can have a direct connection to a low-cost medical education as they c after they complete their undergraduate work. I I think it's just a great program. It's hard for me to believe that I've actually had the chance to make the connection. And you had some skepticism early.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

And I think when you hear the word early entry, that's what's going to benefit our students is getting them into a program and they know what the path is ahead of time.

From Skepticism To Enthusiasm

SPEAKER_00 1:04

You're, you know, that's exactly right. I've I've been associated with the hospital for a long time. And um when I first heard this program of the the general ed medical education of the third and fourth year students coming in to do training, I thought I was a little bit skeptical because I thought that's going to be a stretch for us to be able to do, uh when I say us, uh the county to be able to do this. And uh quite honestly, I'll be absolutely, I'm totally enthused with this opportunity. After I see it, after I've met some of the student medical students who are here, um, after I had an engagement with the medical students at one of my doctor's visits, I just was totally, it was just amazing.

The Step By Step Early Entry Path

SPEAKER_01 1:42

And I know from the ground floor you've been very supportive of the program and connecting with the education world. I know that you were there when they when uh we met with the group um initially with all the educators to talk about what it is. And uh several of us came out when the program opened up as a ribbon cutting. So I know you've been there every step of the way. I thought you did a you just met with the superintendents again in Jefferson County. You did a great job of outlining what that path might look like for a student as they graduate high school and really what this early entry and and really the cost savings it could be for a family trying to get their student through medical school. Could you kind of give a quick snapshot of what you just shared with us? You did a great job on that.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

I'll give you a vision that I have, and and it's it's it's really is very simple. I think, and probably there was a point in time, because we're in a classroom right now, there could very well be a student who's a junior or senior in high school who may have sat in this classroom five or six years ago who were thinking, I'd like to be a doctor, but I don't really know how. My parents can't afford it. Um, so my vision was you take a high school student, you give them the chance to get a good education at their local school district, they can go to Jefferson College directly from here, and while they're in high school, most likely they can earn education credits from Jefferson College. They can transfer to CIMO, they can also get their undergraduate work either through Jefferson College SIMO, and then after that, they can go ahead and go to a medical school. Now, LeeCom is a school that we're talking about in particular. They do have programs, and maybe through the rest of this podcast, they'll talk about how that works. But I envision the fact that you can go and you can make a decision here in this classroom. If you want to be a doctor someday, there is a pathway from this room to the high school to the junior college or college, and then the medical school. It's not complicated. Right. Um, and it's affordable.

Costs Tests And Bringing Doctors Home

SPEAKER_01 3:38

No, I I think that that's when the one thing that keeps resonating is that that early entry path that kind of takes the mystery about where you're going out of it later. Plus, if you don't want to go all the way across the country to a medical school right as you're leaving home, you have a little bit of that time to still stay with your local universities. And I still I think there's some cost savings along with that too. Now, we're focusing a lot on the what we would call like a doctor, like a medical program. There's some others that we'll talk about today. And if you find interest in this, please check out the other podcasts that we go along here. But you just had an opportunity to meet with four students, uh, medical's current medical students who are going to be sharing their stories. You just met with them. Where are they where they're where are they from?

SPEAKER_00 4:18

So the there's four uh young medical students students that we just met with a few minutes ago. They're from Arizona, Colorado, California, and New Jersey. And in my opinion, there's no reason the next time I do this, they could be from Festus, Imperial, Perryville, Saint Genevieve, or Potosi. Right. So there's no reason that the students who are who can in this region uh get a good, affordable education and have an opportunity. Now, you know, there's other medical schools out there, obviously. They're probably a lot more costlier. And so when you costly, so when you figure what it what it takes, some people are scared to death. First of all, I know what my kids went through when I had a son setting for his Zellsats. He didn't know if he could pass them, he didn't know how he would do. I have a niece that did her MCATs, and all I hear about is a ro rough uproar of well, I can take them, but I don't know how I'll do. And they're very costly. And that the cost has got to be a factor that some of these kids look at. Can my mom and dad afford to do all the stuff I need to do? I think this is a pathway that is obviously affordable and an excellent education.

SPEAKER_01 5:35

What I see too is I think in education, we uh my 20 plus years as an administrator and how long I was in the classroom for that, you see very talented students who maybe don't either have the confidence. This program, I think, removes a lot of barriers. Um, it's early entry. I think it's very much guiding the through student through. But there's also on the back end a very well-researched pattern that they have of success because the program's been 15 years, I believe, um, across the country. It's just now making its way in Missouri. So I just see tons of benefit. I really appreciate your support to this process. Um, to the broader scope of making sure we have medical care long-term in Jefferson County is really the ultimate goal from the 10,000 foot down. But on the very ground floor is giving those kids that maybe think they didn't have that opportunity in Jefferson County or these rural areas. I I can't thank you enough for your support for this process.

SPEAKER_00 6:27

Well, I tell you what, it's just a it's a wonderful opportunity. And you said something earlier today that really grabbed my attention that I really thought a lot about. When you have a young, engaged, smart kid, you don't want to put any barriers like money in front of them. And if we can eliminate those, I'm paraphrasing a little bit, but I think I understood. I think I understood what you're saying. We can eliminate the barriers for them to get a good education, get a medical degree, and come back and come and have a practice in our community.

SPEAKER_01 6:56

Absolutely. And just the confidence to get there. Sure. So thank you very much. Thanks for joining us today.

SPEAKER_00 7:01

I appreciate it. Thanks, Steve.