VCOM View Magazine Vol. 12 | No. 1

Alumni & Development

Virginia alumnus from the Class of 2016 who returned to his hometown of Wytheville, Virginia, to practice and now serves as a DSME. Dr. King grew up in Wytheville wanting to attend Virginia Tech, but he couldn’t pass up an opportunity for a scholarship to Concord University in Athens, West Virginia. Even so, he had known from a young age that he wanted to be a doctor, so when it was time for medical school, VCOM’s Virginia campus was the perfect place. “VCOM was close to home and in the Blacksburg area,” he says. “When I toured campus, it really felt like a good place for me to be.” Although pursuing a career in medicine had always been on his radar, in part due to the care provided by his own family doctor in Wytheville, Dr. King says it really clicked for him when he was in his first year at Concord. He enjoyed studying the sciences and was able to shadow some local doctors. And, like most VCOM students and alumni, the College’s mission meant a lot to him. “I had always thought about going back home to practice. I wanted to be the kind of doctor who did a little bit of everything,” Dr. King says. Dr. King practices at Wythe County Community Hospital. Being a physician in a rural hospital is an experience like no other and Dr. King takes seriously his responsibility to VCOM students to show them what it is really like. “My goal always is to persuade the students to do family medicine because it is such a versatile specialty,” explains Dr. King. “I want them to see how it is to work in a hospital with limited resources. You get a good sense of teamwork and

community here because students get to come along to an ER shift or hang out with respiratory or physical therapists. You become close with the other members of the hospital staff, and you get to see different aspects of medicine.” Both Dr. King and Dr. Farmer have the same advice for prospective physicians: It takes perseverance but go for it. Dr. King is the first member of his family to earn a degree beyond a bachelor’s. When he was young, he didn’t have a role model for the kind of experience he would need to become a physician, but says, “If you want it, you can attain it, even if nobody around you has done it.” “Never let anyone tell you that you cannot do something,” Dr. Farmer advises. “If you need help, ask. There are people who want to help you achieve your goals and see you succeed.”

Dr. Jack Davis (left) with Dr. Cortney Farmer

(left to right) Meredith Summers, Dr. Cortney Farmer,AshleyWhite, Dr. Carrie Champine, Dr. Sofia Abraham-Hardee,VCOMVirginia Dean JanWilcox, Dr. Jack Davis and Dr.Abraham Hardee at the celebration of Dr. Davis’s retirement.

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Spring 2023 | VCOM V iew