Finding more physicians for rural America: Appalachian doctor looks for students with a 'passion for healing'

Anya Cope, D.O., believes career options ought to be offered to rural
students before high school. (Courtesy photo via The Yonder)

What's the best way to attract physicians to practice in rural America? Find ways to plant the idea in rural youth and then nurture them. That's what Anya Cope, a doctor of osteopathy from Dryden, Va. (pop. 878), does at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tenn., reports Taylor Sisk of The Daily Yonder. "Cope is an associate dean of clinical affairs and an assistant professor of internal medicine at LMU's DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine. . . . Described by a colleague as 'a fixer; a doer,'[Cope is] a living example; through her instruction, she demonstrates how to excel in a demanding field when the odds appear to be against you."

Cope's father was a coal miner, and her mother a power-company employee, Sisk writes: "She graduated from high school in 2000. It was, she says, a 'weird time' in the mountains of rural Southwest Virginia: The over-prescription of opioids had taken deep root across generations. . . . She considers her education. . . to have been sufficient; she was prepared to be successful at college. But the family had no real knowledge of or resources for board prep courses. Her Medical College Admission Test score, she says, wouldn't get her into med school today. . . . Cope believes schools too often put too much emphasis on standardized testing. . . . She urges administrators to look beyond that number. It tells you nothing about a potential student's determination, their passion for healing."

Cope spends time doing outreach in the region's undergraduate colleges, Sisk writes, but "the outreach, she believes, must start early." Cope told her, "Too many kids in this region think their only options are coal mining, teaching, and nursing – all of which are commendable careers – or illegal drug dealing. You can't be it if you don't see it. We need to show them there are other options – that there are people from here who are succeeding in all kinds of fields. And it has to be before high school." Sisk reports, "Toward that end, the college is setting up camps for pre-K through eighth-grade students that will offer opportunities to study Science, Technology, Engineering and Math topics, explore career choices, and gain skills necessary to be successful in those fields."

Cope's other role includes forging connections with hospital staffs, high schoolers and undergraduate students. Cope told Sisk, "My job is all about relationships. . . . [she is looking for] someone who is adaptable. Someone who, despite facing adversity, has been able to keep going. Someone who has shown a commitment to medicine and a passion for medicine. . . . Of course, we want someone who is drawn to Appalachia and to rural medicine. But I think that even those who have not had the experience of rural medicine, once they get here, we can convince them."

Research supports her approach: "A 2021 Journal of Graduate Medical Education study found that 'Physicians often practice within 100 miles of where they completed residency' and 'Training residents where they are needed in practice is one promising strategy to increase the supply of rural physicians," Siskk reports. "Personally, she's driven to underscore for those from rural communities that 'you can be just as good as any others – and maybe better because of the resistance you've had to fight against. It's like cross-training: fighting against resistance makes you stronger.'"