Mercy hosts visiting med students

More than 40 students from Arkansas’ three medical schools visited Mercy hospital in Berryville on Saturday, May 6, to learn more about the hospital and the community.

The students — from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine in Little Rock, the Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Smith and the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro — visited Berryville as part of a field trip sponsored by the Rural Health Association of Arkansas.

While the visit offered students the opportunity to learn more about Berryville and Carroll County, it gave hospital officials and other local representatives a chance to field students’ questions and highlight the positives of living in a rural setting, especially right here.

Mercy Berryville administrator Darren Caldwell, a veteran of three decades leading hospitals across the state, and Dean Lee, economic development director for the city of Berryville, told the students that there are several advantages to living and working in Berryville.

For one thing, Caldwell said, community leaders here will work together to make sure that there are professional opportunities for a doctor’s spouse or significant other either locally or within a reasonable commute. For another, Lee said, Berryville offers a safe, peaceful community with a low cost of living and excellent outdoor recreational opportunities.

“You can get a $50 steak, but here it will only cost you $25,” Lee said.

John McClellan, principal at Berryville Middle School, highlighted the school’s outstanding extracurricular programs and facilities, including a new high school, performing arts center and athletic complex that all have been built within the past five years and the Connect 4 program that offers training in the skilled trades for high school students.

Nate Kuester, media relations and communications specialist for Mercy NWA/Berryville, pointed out that Mercy is partnering with the Mayo Clinic on a collaboration that will use the most current data science and years of deidentified patient outcomes to diagnose diseases earlier and improve patients’ health more quickly.

Students also heard from Dr. Jonathan Fausett of Berryville’s Mercy Clinic, who told them about the opportunities to build a practice quickly and work with a diverse mix of patients.

Caldwell said having the students visit Berryville was “huge.”

“This is a program that only goes to three or four select communities in the state,” he said. “Being chosen as one of those communities makes it to where we get to give back to the younger generations. They can see what rural life can be like, and whether they choose to come to Berryville or not, it still gives them an understanding that not all life has to be urban. From the standpoint of Berryville, it’s exciting, because we’re one of the few. And I think for rural life altogether, it creates an opportunity.”