{"id":31999,"date":"2024-10-08T14:20:19","date_gmt":"2024-10-08T21:20:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/?p=31999"},"modified":"2024-12-05T14:06:51","modified_gmt":"2024-12-05T22:06:51","slug":"alumni-return-to-train-future-generations-of-physician-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medicine.wsu.edu\/news\/2024\/10\/08\/alumni-return-to-train-future-generations-of-physician-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni Return to Train Future Generations of Physician Leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the first class of Washington State University MD graduates are completing their residency programs and becoming independently practicing physicians, many are settling in Washington and rejoining the College of Medicine as faculty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christie Kirkpatrick Schmutz, MD, was the first to sign on as alumni faculty. She says the decision to help train WSU medical students was an easy one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI got a survey about whether there would be interest in being a faculty member and having students in the clinic,\u201d said Kirkpatrick Schmutz. \u201cI said, \u2018Of course! How could I not?\u2019 It was always a no-brainer.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Community faculty are the backbone of the clinical education medical students receive at WSU. These faculty support students in multiple ways, including teaching in a clinical setting, facilitating small group sessions, mentoring research projects, teaching through simulation, and more.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDr. Kirkpatrick Schmutz will be joining a group of community-based, state-wide faculty that is over 2,000 members strong. They make our MD program possible,\u201d said Jeff Haney, MD, chair of the Department of Medical Education and Clinical Sciences. \u201cShe will contribute to the continued formation of exceptional clinicians that will serve the state for decades to come.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kirkpatrick Schmutz was part of the first class of MD students to attend and graduate from the WSU College of Medicine\u2014starting in 2017 and graduating in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHer service as a faculty member with us just reinforces the legacy and goals we want to achieve,\u201d added Leila Harrison, PhD, MA, MEd, vice dean for Admissions, Student Affairs, and Alumni Engagement. \u201cI love that our current and future students will have opportunities to learn from our very own.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kirkpatrick Schmutz grew up in Longview, Washington, and attended college in Spokane for her undergraduate degree. She says she always wanted to stay close to family and eventually practice in the state. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI also liked the concept of being a part of something new,\u201d added Kirkpatrick Schmutz about joining the inaugural class. \u201cIt was exciting to me to help pave the way for more future doctors to train.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduating with her MD, Kirkpatrick Schmutz spent the next three years completing an internal medicine residency at Virginia Mason in Seattle. The location in her home state allowed her to stay in touch with many of her WSU classmates, former faculty mentors, and her family in Longview, where medicine is the family business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since graduating from residency, Kirkpatrick Schmutz has joined her father and brother in the family practice, Kirkpatrick Family Care. She will practice internal medicine and primary care, as well as weight loss medicine. The clinic serves about 15,000 patients in Longview as well as rural areas of Cowlitz and Clark Counties in southwestern Washington. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt isn\u2019t good enough to say we are going to do something, like select applicants who want to serve in Washington,\u201d said Harrison. \u201cWe have to mean it, and more importantly, do it. Seeing that happen is so important to our communities.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kirkpatrick Schmutz will also welcome WSU medical students into her clinic for training. It\u2019s a full-circle moment for faculty like Haney. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPart of the responsibility that we imparted in our students from the outset is the concept of stewardship, which includes teaching future generations of physician leaders,\u201d he said. \u201cDr. Kirkpatrick Schmutz is an exemplar of that effort toward stewardship, benefiting current and future students and setting an example for them to follow.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kirkpatrick Schmutz says teaching not only benefits doctors in training but also physicians and the organizations they work for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think that being in an academic-like training environment keeps everybody at the top of their game and keeps patients getting the best care,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m excited to be challenged. I think they will teach me as much as I teach them, if not more, and I love that.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n

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Class of 2021 Gives Back<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Christie Kirkpatrick Schmutz, MD, is one of several members of the Class of 2021 who jumped at the opportunity to give back to the College of Medicine as alumni faculty as of Aug. 1, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The college also welcomes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n