Mentor Spotlight: Dr. Amanda Baright

Amanda Baright, DO, FACOS, FACS graduated from Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, she completed her general surgery internship and residency at Metro Health Hospital in Grand Rapids, MI. She currently serves as the Chair of Surgery at Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine. Including an undergraduate Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine fellowship at KCOM, she has nine years of experience in undergraduate medical education. She enjoys advising future osteopathic medical students on pursuing careers in surgery and anesthesiology, incorporating OMM into practice, and teaching simulation medicine.

What brought you to surgery?

I had decided to enroll at Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, the first DO school, because I thought that primary care was going to be in my future.  Looking back, even though I was a slightly older student at 27 when I started my third-year rotations, I clearly didn’t do enough due diligence about what general surgery offered.  I am still grateful that it was one of my first rotations and that the residents and attendings were so willing to teach and challenge me.  Even though the rotation wasn’t an easy one, I found myself excited about the early hours, the call, and holding retractors so that I could better see the anatomy and follow along with the procedure.  It really was just such an eye-opening experience that I wanted more.  The eight weeks of family medicine afterwards solidified my pursuit of surgery.

What is one piece of advice you would give your medical school self?

During medical training and the career after, you will grow with experience and continue to change your priority list.  Give yourself some space and time to reflect on what you have learned and how your experiences, good and bad, committed you to be a future educator and clinician.

What challenges have you faced as a female surgeon and how have you overcome them?

I was fortunate that my Michigan community program in general surgery had about an equal number of female residents while I was in training.  It taught me that really strong teamwork amongst women can lead to great camaraderie and outcomes for patients.  It still amazes me that there can be a surprised look on a patient’s face that I, a female, can be a general surgeon in 2025.

What is one thing that brings you joy outside of surgery?

Travel has always been important to me.  I studied in Spain while an undergraduate at Purdue and have always appreciated the value that the year abroad gave.  This has translated to numerous medical mission experiences and a lesson that is often quoted in business.  Culture eats strategy for lunch.  I would argue that this translates to medical missions, the boardroom, corporate medicine, and academics.  Until you dig in to understand the culture, it can be so difficult to enact lasting changes.

What is your greatest accomplishment?

Early in my career I was approached for a new faculty position, and while education wasn’t the career path I was initially on, the faith that others had in my educational abilities caused me to pause and consider how much more impact one can have in patients’ lives when influencing many careers from an early start.  Prioritizing undergraduate osteopathic medical education by offering a diversity of skills to my students and advisees is needed at osteopathic medical schools, and I hope to fulfill this throughout my career.  While I applaud the goal of creating primary care physicians in underserved communities, I have highlighted the need for surgeons to be willing to work in these same communities.  The skillsets needed to work in whatever specialty in the rural, urban, or international underserved are very expansive.

Mentee:

Sophie Hockran

Sophie Hokran is a fourth-year medical student at Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Lillington, North Carolina. Sophie is originally from the small town of Andover in Northeast Ohio and received her undergraduate degree at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia while competing as a collegiate athlete. Sophie has a deep passion for international and domestic service. She travels to West Africa annually to promote healthcare partnerships and lead medical teams to villages and hospitals in need. While in the States, Sophie has a profound interest in promoting rural surgery and providing access to those in resource-limited areas. She hopes to become a dedicated rural surgeon improving health care access to a population in need, domestically or abroad. Sophie is currently serving as the AWS National Medical Student Committee's Social Media and Marketing chair and has spent time as co-chair of the AWS Instagram Sub-Committee. Her research interests include global surgery, West African surgical access, impacts of social determinants of health, and trauma-informed care. In her free time, you can find Sophie training as an Olympic weightlifter, traveling to a new place, or spending quality time with her cat Penny.