VCOM 2025 Annual Report

136

Innovation Rooted in Service Lindsey Van Duyn, VCOM–Carolinas ’15 F or Lindsey Van Duyn, VCOM-Carolinas ’15, memories of medical

Traditional resources were limited, and some patients were not improving. After reviewing emerging research on virtual reality as a therapeutic tool, she was unable to find a program she felt confident using, so she created her own. Her company, Immersive Medical Therapy (IMT), grew directly from patient need. The platform uses virtual reality to support treatment for teens and adults facing depression. Dr. Van Duyn believes immersive technology may one day become part of standard mental health practice as an additional tool to better care for patients. In 2025, she was recognized as an emerging leader in osteopathic medicine by the American Osteopathic Association and the American Osteopathic Foundation. Honored first at the state level in Iowa, she was also named a National Emerging Leader. “I’m thankful that the AOA/AOF took the time to acknowledge those of us who are using our talents freely without seeking recognition,” she says. “The peers I met at the ceremony were truly inspirational.”

school are both serious and joyful. She helped launch a pediatric kids fair, organized emergency response programming that included a helicopter landing on campus, and even attempted to break a Guinness World Record to raise awareness about blood pressure in Spartanburg. She still recalls a geriatric lecture that left a lasting clinical impression and continues to guide her prescribing decisions today. When she entered medical school, Dr. Van Duyn planned to become an orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine. She matched into an orthopedic residency and began training. During her first year, however, she discovered she was pregnant with twins, prompting a return to her home state and a transition into family medicine. Today, she practices primary care in her rural Iowa hometown and serves as medical director of

Scan for full story.

a local nursing home. In 2020, she noticed a

troubling pattern: teenagers in her community struggling with severe depression and suicidality, often without access to effective therapy.