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.

Transcript

Welcome And Meet Casey

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hey everyone, thanks for joining me today. Um, I'm Parker Dodson with podcastvideos.com here in the early stages of the Arkansas State Media Network Studios, where few additional changes that we have that'll be upcoming, but um I'm excited to be joined today uh by Casey Pierce here with the uh NYIT program of freshman to physician at Arkansas State. So, Casey, thank you for joining me. Um tell us a little bit more about yourself and and how you got into what you're doing now.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Yeah, so my name is Casey Pierce. I'm the director of external relations and marketing for NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine. I don't sound like I'm from New York, do I? No, not at all. No, you don't. So I'm actually from Russellville, Arkansas. I attended Arkansas State as an undergrad, and about eight years ago, I was really fortunate to join NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine, which is the medical school that operates on the A State campus in partnership with A State. So I say New York, our institution is based in New York, but pretty cool

Why Arkansas Needed More Doctors

SPEAKER_00 0:56

story. About uh 15 years ago, the leadership at Arkansas State University wanted to open a medical school. And as they looked at how to navigate that from a political standpoint and just from an operational standpoint, what they discovered was uh they could very efficiently partner with an institution that was already running a medical school. So there was a significant need in Arkansas. We only had one medical school in the entire state at that time, and we rank near the bottom in number of physicians per capita and also in a number of health outcomes. So we're not an overly healthy people and we don't have enough doctors practicing here.

SPEAKER_01 1:34

And that's in the state of Arkansas as a whole.

SPEAKER_00 1:36

Absolutely. The other statistic that we always talk about is a third of the physician workforce in the state of Arkansas is age 60 or over. So they are either at or rapidly approaching that place where they're going to um want to retire, or they're starting to think about that. So we really needed something to uh build a physician pipeline of physicians that would train in Arkansas and hopefully stay here to practice. So, with that in mind, uh a significant need here at the leadership at Arkansas State, uh, the Jonesboro Chamber of Commerce, the civic community, and also the medical community, um, put together a business plan and began traveling the countries, meeting with medical schools and asking if they wanted to open a campus in Arkansas. And that message, that mission, that vision really connected with NYIT, uh, which is located in Old Westbury, New York, about 40 miles out on Long Island.

SPEAKER_01 2:29

Okay,

MD Versus DO Explained Clearly

SPEAKER_01 2:30

very cool. And I know you kind of mentioned osteopathic. So one of the things, whenever I for we first started talking is we said one of the graphics we came up with said MD. And it was like, you know, you weren't shaming, which I appreciate, right? But there's a common misconception between MD and ODs. So tell me a little bit more. Becca, M D and D O. M D and D O. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 2:52

Oh, so it's doctor of osteopathic. Yep. So gotcha. An O D is an optometrist. Oh, you're right. So that's right. Yeah, sorry, I'm correct.

SPEAKER_01 2:59

No, you're good. If you want to redo there, but yes. No, yeah. Yeah. So one of the things, whenever you and I first started talking, and I didn't know the difference, was the different between difference between an MD and a DO. I didn't really know the biggest difference between that two. And you very humbly corrected us, which I'm glad you did, because I bet there's a large portion of the population that doesn't know the difference in those two things. So tell me a little bit of difference in what those designations mean and what the approach to medicine is. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:27

So first of all, before I came to work in an osteopathic school eight years ago, I wasn't very familiar with the term or the differences or any of that. And we're the first osteopathic school to open in Arkansas. So it's a relatively new term and concept to a lot of people that live here. But the easiest way to explain it, there's two types of physicians that are fully licensed to practice a full scope of medicine and surgery in the United States. There's an allopathic physician, which is an MD, which most people are a little bit more familiar with. And then there's an osteopathic physician, which is a DO, doctor of osteopathic medicine, is what DO stands for. Uh DOs and MDs can do the exact same things. They take similar but different licensing exams. They go to the same residency programs, they're trained uh in those same programs, and they practice in all medical specialties. Osteopathic physicians are just trained with a little bit of a different philosophy. Um, there are principles of osteopathic medicine, and without getting uh too deep in them, basically it's a holistic approach to medicine. Uh that there's a one full big picture of the the body is interconnected, it works together. And the main idea I think that osteopathic physicians really drive home is they get to work to root causes. So um, if you have high blood pressure, I can give you a medication and it's going to address that. But have I really solved it if I haven't talked to you about diet, exercise, sleep, mental health, and all those other things that really impact why you have that. So I'm using uh hypertension as one example, but in a whole scope of medical issues, osteopathic physicians are trained to um see, address, and define those root causes uh to help a give you a full picture of uh of health. Like I said, when you see an osteopathic physician, you're very often going to be asked, What'd you eat for breakfast? When was the last time you walked around your neighborhood? Um, are you sleeping okay? Uh all those things that that play into. So again, you could see a DO uh and really not ever experience the difference. It's just that they're trained a little bit differently to approach medicine in a different way. One other thing that's that is a little bit different and unique, um, osteopathic physicians can practice in any field, um, orthopedic surgery, radiation oncology, diagnostic radiology, any of those, they're more likely to practice in the primary care specialties, which we classify as family medicine, internal medicine, uh, pediatrics, and general surgery. Um, that's defined by our uh association, those four. Uh they're twice as DOs are twice as likely to practice in primary care. And why that's significant for Arkansas is that's where our real needs are, are in those primary care. We need family medicine physicians practicing, especially in some of these rural towns in the Delta. So our mission ties into that fact that you're more likely to practice in one of those, and that's what we really need there. The one other piece, DOs are twice as likely to practice in a rural or underserved community. And when we look at the landscape of Arkansas, we have a lot of those types of communities that need physicians. So, from a missional standpoint, we're trying to train physicians to go practice in these areas and address some of those significant healthcare needs in Arkansas, like we talked about.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

Yeah, that's it's incredibly interesting, like as we've talked over the last couple of months, just the way you guys handle your system. And we won't get into that too much today because I know you guys will be

The Pre Med Playbook Podcast

SPEAKER_01 6:56

tackling that. But, you know, with the media network, you're um one of our more unique ones because you're actually going to be leading two shows. Um, so tell people real quick. I know we've got more than medical school on the screen here, um, but you have another show as well. Um, so real quickly, just kind of tell people the difference in the two shows um and kind of what you're hoping to do with these conversations to educate the public, students, prospective students, people in the overall communities in the area about what you guys are doing.

SPEAKER_00 7:27

Yeah. So the the pre-med playbook, first of all, uh Arkansas State University has a great undergraduate pre-med program. And we've partnered with them. We've had um upwards of, we're pushing 100 now in our first seven classes that have gone through that program at Arkansas State and have now graduated from our medical program. We want everybody in this state, in this region that's interested in medicine to pursue your undergraduate degree at Arkansas State and come to medical school at NYT. But hopefully, this can provide a resource for anybody that's interested in medical school in general. How do you navigate that path? Um, what are some things that our current students would have liked to have known as they were applying for medical school, as they were uh approaching, preparing for their pre-med journey, all those things. So, our pre-med playbook is going to be some uh career advice from our current students, from our faculty members, uh, from our admissions team on what they look for in prospective students and just um four episodes of some advice on uh how to better help both K-12 students and then also undergrad students as they're preparing to uh enter medical school. And hopefully we maybe inspire them uh to pursue that field. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

And it's you know, it's a very interesting thing because we actually had the studios open today, and we've actually had four pre-med students already come in here and do a little mock recording. Um, you know, and they were already talking, I think all of them were like sophomores in pressure, and they were already talking about all of the testing and some of the stresses that they're already kind of going through. And so not only are they having to perform as a student and learn very high-level things, but in the back of their mind, it's like, okay, well, I this isn't, you know, just through my pre-med is not the final step. I've got other things to go through. So the playbook, I love the idea because it gives them a resource from the people who are they're going to be approaching one day about getting into med school. You're giving them that plat, that kind of path and that playbook on how do we actually, what are we looking for so they can better prepare themselves as they move in the future, which is great. I love that you guys are doing that. Um, and then obviously your other one, which is more than medical school. Uh, tell us a little bit more

More Than Medical School Vision

SPEAKER_01 9:33

about that one.

SPEAKER_00 9:33

Yeah. So we're gonna speak with the leadership of our school to speak specifically about um, we use that term more than medical school because we feel like we're different. There's a lot of things about NYT Common A state that makes us different. And so what we say is you can go anywhere and learn anatomy, physiology, your um, your body systems, uh, yeah, bedside manner, how to be a doctor. But some of the things that make us unique, first of all, we're on a large undergraduate campus. So our students have a lot of resources here. We're gonna talk about that and how our students benefit from that. We're gonna tell our history because again, that partnership that we spoke about earlier, that's unique that you're um that you're part of an institution that is based in New York, but has a campus in Arkansas, and you get lots of resources from both of those. We're gonna talk about the history of our school and kind of how we came to be here. We're gonna tell you where our graduates go, what they do, where they practice, how we've been able to get them there. So um, again, that's more trying. I talked about trying to sell you on becoming a physician. Maybe that the other piece is trying to sell you on why our medical school is the one for you. And not so much sell you, just to give you some information to help you make an informed decision about the opportunity that exists right here in Jonesboro, Arkansas, to get an outstanding medical education and then go uh work as a servant leader in medicine to serve our communities and help make Arkansas a better place. Yeah. And I love that.

SPEAKER_01 10:55

And that's ultimately, you know, what we want for the area in the state that we live in and enjoy. It's like I, having talked with you guys, I've got a young family, and it's like hearing the approach that you guys take is something that I want and strive for our state and different communities throughout the area because I've got a young family, you know, hearing that most of these doctors and you experience it when you go in a doctor's office, a lot of them are getting later in their careers. And so it's it's not always a super comforting, comforting fact when maybe you've been with a doctor for years and you know they're getting ready to retire. It's like, well, where are we going to go now? I've built a relationship with this person. So to see you guys taking that initiative to helping students and future leaders find a great path to get into these communities to help people is really just extremely important because it impacts all of us, you know. So even though I live five and a half hours away or five hours away in Northwest Arkansas, having you and I having some of those discussions about where your students go for residencies and other things like that, that's making impacts not just in the area, which it is, but also more regionally across and even, you know, eventually to other states and surrounding states, things like that. So it's not just a Jonesboro thing. Jonesboro is where it's happening and where we're actually educating these students and allowing them to perform, but they're going and doing work all across the state. And so it's really exciting to see some of the things that you guys have going on. I'm really excited to get these um conversations going. I know Michael Stinnet's gonna be another one of our hosts that we're gonna chat with him um tomorrow in another recording and just share what he's gonna be talking about within it. So we have three shows coming for freshman's visit, freshman to physician with NYIT, which we're really excited about, and um just helping educate people through long-form, genuine conversation. You know, if you're thinking about a student going through all of this, trying to make that decision, being able to hear from the people that you guys are talking about puts a lot of ease at mind. And they can visualize themselves oh, here is someone who's gone through this program and this is what they've experienced. Here's a field that I can end up in what I can do. And they can kind of begin to plot that future course a little bit more than having to worry about it while also worrying about all their studies and everything else. So it's really exciting. Um, and I know there's we're gonna have the remote capabilities with this. So we may be able to talk to some people from New York and get them involved, which will be really exciting. And I know uh we've met with the dean and talked with him a little bit. He's very excited about it too. So um it's gonna be a really cool opportunity just to talk a little bit more and have people understand the uh the magnitude of what you guys are helping and the mission of what you're trying to do. And it's helping helping the future to help ourselves now is a great way to kind of look at it too.

How To Follow And Next Steps

SPEAKER_01 13:42

So um as we kind of wrap this, we want to keep these pretty short. If you have anything else that you want to share or give people the you know something to look forward to, um, I would love to give you the opportunity to kind of do that a little bit more.

SPEAKER_00 13:53

Yeah, if you want to kind of see what we're doing on a day-to-day basis, uh, we have a really good social media coordinator. Our handles are all NYIT com A R. So New York Institute of Technology, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Arkansas, NYIT COM AR on Instagram and TikTok and uh and Facebook as well. So there's day-to-day stuff to kind of see what we're talking about, visualize that. Check us out. Our website's nyit.edu backslash Arkansas. So uh if folks want to get some more information and kind of get a ahead of us, but we're just excited about an opportunity to uh to tell our story. You know, I when I was hired for this job, um my boss had told uh told me, you know, I share this a lot that we're doing a lot of good things, we're not uh we need to do a better job of telling people about it. So my job is to tell people about it, and I'm really excited about having this platform to tell people about what we're doing.

SPEAKER_01 14:44

Yeah. And it's the thing that whenever we got into the business of podcasting and our business, the thing I love about it is exactly what you just said. It's it's hard to sit down and you know, it's hard to actually have somebody understand, you know, even via social media, but it's needed because it draws attention. It's hard to really sell someone on something or inform them on something without having the time to be able to sit down and talk to them. And so the podcasting platform is designed, and why people love podcasts is for that exact reason. I can you can sit there and tell me in one hour of me and you sitting down, like we have in the past, a conversation about what you guys do. If I had to try to go discover that on my own, no matter how good websites are and social medias are, you can build the picture, but you can't tell that full story. So adding that level of a podcast really enables that depth of conversation and then be able to bring in other people that are in the industry or experience that across the medical fields that have experience in that and be able to share and tap into their wisdom is another valuable asset. And so um, I'm excited for you guys. I know whenever we first came with you all talking about the idea, there was a lot of excitement, like we're ready for it. And you were within a week, Casey had sent us something over that was like, this is who I'm gonna talk to, this is what it's called, here's our host, here's every single of our, I guess, what is it, 12 episodes that we're gonna do over these three shows within a few days. And because it was like, you guys know what you're talking about. And that's and probably for you, without putting words in your mouth, it was probably challenging to really just narrow it down to 12 things to talk about. Absolutely. Yeah. And so it's it's hopefully just the tip of the iceberg with what we're wanting to do. You know, really being able to get in there a little bit deeper and continue these conversations is gonna be incredibly important. And overall, you know, the point of all of this is to continue to elevate Arkansas State and the university as a whole from academics, athletics, community, and partnerships are going to be covering in this. We really want everyone to be able to understand the great things that are happening here. Because I've been to campus once, aging myself a little bit about 15 years ago as a prospective student. And it was still great then. And but it's, you know, it's been 15 years. I ended up going to the U of A and have lived in Northwest Arkansas the rest of my life. But, you know, it's one of those things when I came back on campus and got to meet some of the people that have been here, see the facilities that are in place, the vision and goals of what we're trying to get to, you know, it really became one of those things where I was like, there's a lot of really cool stuff happening here. And it's how do we continue to amplify that story of it? And it's with what we're doing, is just a very, you know, there's countless stories across all the different colleges on this campus and different departments of the great things that are happening. And so we're excited to kind of dive in and help provide that platform and um continue going forward. But I know we're getting some episodes going here in the next week or two and going to get them out a little bit later. So um we're excited to get you in with some guests and and get some content going.

SPEAKER_00 17:40

Yeah, and I'm an ambassador for this university, even though I don't I work on this campus. I don't work directly for it every day. But um, as an alum, a proud alum, a proud supporter of Red Wolf Athletics. Um, you know, the greatest four years of my life were spent on this campus, and it's changed a lot in the last 23 years since I left. But it's all growth that I've been extremely proud of, and I'm always proud to call myself an A-State alum. So then to get to be part of an institution that's doing great things uh through our partnership with A State is still uh I made it my life's work. It's my passion, and it's it's fun. I'm looking forward to being able to tell people a lot more about it.

SPEAKER_01 18:13

Yeah, and I think it speaks to, you know, a little bit more like our, you know, the owner of our company, the president of our company, both A-State alums, both from the area. And every time we come over, they run into somebody else that they know and they love it. And it kind of resonated with me, the community of what you're talking about, how tight-knit we are as a state in Arkansas. How even though these people have lived not in this area, Bob, I think it was his first time back in a decade and a half, and I'm half into, you know, someone who graduated from here, I'm and I'm not. I had to, oh hey, that road doesn't actually cut through campus anymore. You actually need to go around, you got to park over here, and seeing how much it's changed, you know, was really exciting for him. So, and I know it's communities is such an important thing, and I love the way you guys get students in it because you said you're from Russellville. My I'm from Van Buren, my defensive line coach in high school was from Russellville and a good friend of yours. So it's crazy how how you and I had never met before, but there's a connection, and that happens everywhere, you know, and in every state. But I feel like in Arkansas, it's especially true in these communities that people are so much more interconnected than they are. So, how do we help raise up future leaders and doctors and other medical professionals here and continue to spread them throughout that state to continue to kind of fuel the state that we love living in?

SPEAKER_00 19:28

Yep, that's what we uh were established with a mission uh to do. And you know, we're actually celebrating our 10-year anniversary this spring. So it's been fun uh starting from that point of being able to tell people what we're going to do, but now we're at the place where we can tell them what we are doing. And it's awesome to see that impact. Awesome.

SPEAKER_01 19:44

Well, Casey, thank you for taking the time. Um, we're excited to get more content going and uh get some stuff released out there. So there'll be not any from me coming out in the future, but a lot coming out from Casey. Um, so be sure when we start, we'll start pushing that content out. You guys go give it a follow, listen to it, um, share it with any friends that are interested in potentially becoming um into med schools and looking at pre med options. Arkansas State's a great one with this partnership that can help them really guide down that pathway. So thank you for your time. Thanks for having me. Looking forward to doing more. Yep.