More than just medicine: How Bethany Bayer discovered her calling to rural practice

Bethany Bayer’s path to medicine started with an observation. As a child, she witnessed many family members in her rural hometown of Floresville, Texas, struggle with the ability to make time for or having access to health care.

“My grandparents on both sides were farmers,” Bayer, a fourth-year medical student at the Texas A&M University Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine, said. “Regular doctor’s appointments were hard to get to, and I grew up hearing comments like, ‘we don’t have time for allergies,’ as most doctor’s visits required an hour plus drive to San Antonio.”

This came to a head when she was in middle school and her grandfather was diagnosed with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and laryngeal cancer.

“My grandpa wasn’t a smoker and it was hard to watch him try to figure out how or where to seek treatment,” Bayer said. “This sparked many questions for me about why he didn’t have easy access to care, or why he hadn’t had access to screening measures before his diagnoses.”

After graduating from Texas A&M University in 2022 with a degree in biomedical sciences, Bayer was admitted to the Vashisht College of Medicine Class of 2026 where she quickly learned more about the barriers to health care facing rural Texans. 

“Rural populations are misunderstood a lot of the time,” Bayer said. “Doctors will see many rural patients as non-compliant, but it’s because they don’t understand the importance of the treatment plan or have the resources or time to follow through with it.”

To help change these misperceptions, Bayer spearheaded the college’s Rural Medicine Interest Group as a second-year medical student. Through the interest group, she sought to get more of her classmates involved with the Rural Medicine Program. She helped establish the Road to Med School Zoom series where medical students from rural backgrounds connect with high schoolers in rural schools about their paths to medical school. When the interest group was founded just two years ago, there were about seven officers. Today, there are more than double that and overall participation in the group continues to grow.

In addition to her upbringing and leadership of the Rural Medicine Interest Group, Bayer has participated in rural rotations in Brady, Junction, Clifton and Beeville, with plans to rotate again this spring. These rotations have helped her solidify her desired path forward as a general surgeon practicing in rural Texas. 

“I always knew there was a need for rural physicians, but before my rural rotations, I thought that meant you had to be a family medicine doctor,” Bayer said. “Now I know there is also a need for specialists in rural settings and by serving as a general surgeon in a small town, I will not only be able to provide surgical care but also relate to my patients more personally and support their overall health and preventative care.”

Through her rotations, Bayer has also witnessed how all of her preceptors lead both in and out of the clinical setting—a commonality among rural providers.

“Most of the physicians I have worked with are serving on boards and participating in philanthropic efforts in their communities,” Bayer said. “Their leadership and community impact is more than just medicine.”

As Bayer prepares for Match Day in March and hopes to begin a surgical residency in the summer, she will carry with her the lessons she’s learned through her rural rotations and engagement with the Rural Medicine Program. 

“I will continue to use my background to relate to and understand my patients,” Bayer said. “By taking the time to build trust between a patient and their health care team, you can empower them to confidently make decisions about their care.”