In Depth: Midwestern University's Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine
As the healthcare landscape continues to evolve in complexity, Midwestern University’s Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine (AZCOM) is a watchtower for the next generation of physicians—clinicians trained not just in medicine, but in empathy, adaptability, and the human connection that defines the best of the profession. At the helm is Lori Kemper, DO, MS, FACOFP, Dean of AZCOM and a physician whose own journey mirrors the values her institution aims to instill.
A CALLING ROOTED IN FAMILY AND SERVICE
Dr. Kemper has worked at Midwestern University for 22 years and has been serving as the Dean of the Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine (AZCOM) since 2007. She is also the Chair of the Professional Education Committee and a past President of the Arizona Osteopathic Medical Association.
Her path to medicine began in childhood, when she found the texts and notes of her grandfather, who was a physician. Though she had never met him in person, she pored over the books and knew she wanted to explore her own career in healthcare.
She further refined her interest, choosing osteopathic medicine when she saw how the holistic approach helped her mother recover from a particularly difficult car accident.
Following medical school, Dr. Kemper began her career with the National Health Service Corps, establishing a medical family practice in Tempe and providing care for underserved populations in Phoenix. She invested in teaching opportunities from the beginning, widening her circle of impact by taking on students at her practice, and then establishing a family medical residency at Tempe St. Luke’s Hospital, where she also served as Director of Medical Education.
“I felt like I needed to pay it forward,” she said. “People had done that for me, so I needed to do it for them.”
Since joining Midwestern University’s Arizona campus in 2001 and becoming Dean of AZCOM in 2007, Dr. Kemper has led a curriculum and culture that prepares future osteopathic physicians to meet both the technical and interpersonal demands of modern healthcare.
Midwestern University - AZCOM by the Numbers:
​
-
Founded in 1995
-
12 Departments:
-
Anatomy, Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics, Clinical Education, Integrated Medicine, Maternal & Child Health, Microbiology & Immunology, Osteopathic Family and Community Medicine, Pathology, Pharma​cology, Physiology, and Surgery & Anesthesia
-
-
103 Faculty
-
47 Physician Faculty
-
-
Location:​
-
Glendale
-
​Visit Midwestern University - AZCOM at midwestern.edu or (623) 572-3200​
EDUCATING THE WHOLE PHYSICIAN FOR WHOLE-PERSON CARE
At the heart of AZCOM’s philosophy is a comprehensive, patient-centered approach. Students receive rigorous biomedical training alongside instruction in osteopathic principles, communication, and ethics.
“Osteopathic philosophy is that the body has an inherent ability to heal itself,” Dr. Kemper said. “Each person is a body, mind, and spirit.” And a community is no different, she said.
“Treating a community holistically makes just as much sense as treating an individual holistically—you need to take all factors into account: environment, history, genetics, culture, and faith.” AZCOM serves its community by prioritizing a variety of education, outreach, and service-based programs.
One example is Health Outreach Through Medicine and Education (HOME). Students go out with supervisory faculty to care and provide education for the Valley’s unhoused population. AZCOM also does extensive outreach at the high school level, shedding light on the pathways to a career in healthcare.
“We bring them on campus, and they get to do a sort of mini medical school,” Dr. Kemper said. “That’s a really great program, and it’s fun to see the next generation.”
With clinical rotations beginning in the third year, AZCOM students are embedded in a wide range of healthcare settings, allowing them to translate their classroom education into real-world application.
AZCOM nurtures strong partnerships and affiliations with community-based physicians and healthcare centers to provide meaningful clinical training. Partnerships such as the Abrazo Family Medicine Residency clinic located on the Abrazo Central Campus in north central Phoenix; and the HonorHealth Mountain Vista Medical Center, Family Medicine Residency in the east valley of the Phoenix metro area are vital in developing confident, compassionate physicians.
Arizona’s current and anticipated shortage of primary care physicians is a growing concern that places a significant toll on both physicians and patients. Additional Graduate Medical Education funding for in-state residency spots is a high priority for organizations like AZCOM who are working to address these shortages.
“It hurts everybody, the shortage of family medicine,” she said. “It hurts the patients that can't find care; it hurts the patients that feel they're not getting the care they want because their doctors are too busy; it hurts the physicians like crazy because they are overworked and have a way larger patient load than they need; Burnout gets to be huge—it’s a crisis.”
Dr. Kemper said that about half of AZCOM’s students graduate into primary care, and about one third of graduating students match in Arizona. In addition to residency spots in the Valley, AZCOM also sponsors residencies in rural Arizona
communities, as well as requiring all students to complete a rural rotation.
“We want them to taste that part of practice, because you will never choose a rural community if you don’t realize it’s a lovely way to live your life,” she said.
EQUIPPING STUDENTS FOR A TECHNOLOGICAL AND TRUST-CHALLENGED ERA
Medical education has changed dramatically in the last decades and so have the challenges facing today’s students. Integrating technological advancements, database management, and the potential presented by recent AI developments is a necessary adjustment in preparing today’s medical students to be knowledgeable yet flexible as they face a future of increasing uncertainty.
One program AZCOM has been piloting recently is C3DO, a National Board of Osteopathic Medicine project for on-campus standardized assessment of fundamental clinical skills.
During the COVID-19 Pandemic clinical hands-on assessments were removed, to preserve isolation and virtual education needs.
While this may have been a necessary step, Dr. Kemper shared her concern that this may have negatively impacted physicians, graduating them without some of the patient interaction skills they need. She hopes that tools and programs like C3DO could help students develop and demonstrate the required skills.
COVID-19 also brought with it a wave of misinformation that has swept away the average patient’s trust, widening the gap between physicians and patients.
“I think a lot changed, and we are trying to back to where doctors are respected,” Dr. Kemper said. “It’s very hard to earn trust and very easy to lose it.”
Clear communication, strong interpersonal skills, and prioritizing the doctor-patient relationship as one of teamwork will be core elements in rebuilding that trust. AZCOM curriculum is evolving to meet these training needs with a new generation of students who may not have the experience interacting with others in the same way that they are expected to once they enter the workforce.
“We need to show them what it looks like to develop professionally,” Dr. Kemper said. “They need to communicate in a way that’s understandable using basic language, not slang.” And, with electronic medical recording dominating so much of physician’s time both in and out of the office, modeling ways to connect and communicate with patients around technology will be key in building relationships.
She shared several examples of phrases physicians can implement to bring the patient to your side of the screen. Things like asking the patient if you can take a moment to confirm a drug interaction or turning the laptop screen toward the patient during consultation.
“That is what we are trying to teach students,” she said. “Because then technology is a tool that you can use with the patients. You can sit down next to them and say, let’s look at this together.”
“It’s a piece that that we, as older physicians, had to learn, and we want the younger generation to learn so their patients feel heard and seen and cared about,” Dr. Kemper said.
LOOKING FORWARD: LEADERSHIP, LEGACY, AND THE NEXT CHAPTER
As AZCOM continues to evolve, its focus remains clear: preparing physicians to meet the demands of medicine with competence, integrity, and a deep understanding of those they serve. There will always be new challenges, which she laughingly refers to as “The Challenge Du Jour”. But she knows that AZCOM will continue to find ways to meet those challenges, just as it always has.
After all, it would be hard not to feel confident as an educator when you have been able to live long enough to see students you trained become the physicians treating your parents and family, which is an experience Dr. Kemper is pleased to have had.
“It gives me a good feeling,” she said. “Not just for me, but the whole team did a good job on that person who became my parent’s doctor.”
For Dr. Kemper, seeing her former students care for her own family affirms the long arc of medical education— one that begins with rigorous training and extends into communities through generations of patient care. â–
​
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dominique Perkins serves as Associate Editor for Arizona Physician.