A Call to Medicine

The moment she saw her grandfather’s mangled black Dodge pickup truck, Harley Duncan knew life would never be the same for her or her beloved Papaw. For her grandfather, the repercussions of his collision with an 18-wheeler that caused a seven-car pileup on a West Memphis, Ark., highway were immediate as he suffered permanent paralysis from the neck down.

For Duncan, who is now a second-year medical student at NYITCOM-Arkansas, the impact took a little longer to manifest.

“A lot of physicians have an experience or a moment that really inspires them to pursue medicine,” says Duncan, who was 14 years old at the time of the accident. “For me, it started with his accident but really unfolded over the next couple of years as I watched my grandmother care for him.”

Duncan experienced both the physical and emotional toll the situation had on her grandmother, who tended to his bedside, fed him, helped with everyday activities, and shuttled him all over the country to address his significant healthcare needs.  

“They had to travel constantly to see specialists and get care,” Duncan says. “I hated the fact that we didn’t have easy access to a lot of different types of physicians in our area. I started thinking that I should consider medical school so I could be part of a solution to some of the challenges my grandparents faced.”

Following graduation from Marion High School, Duncan attended the University of Tennessee. Like many aspiring medical students, she questioned whether she had what it took to become a physician. Her experiences as an undergrad convinced her she did.

“During my junior year, I shadowed an orthopedic surgeon, and that convinced me,” Duncan says. “It showed me I could do it and gave me a passion to pursue medicine.”

After attending undergrad six hours from home, Duncan, a first-generation college graduate, had a strong desire to return to Northeast Arkansas. Fortunately for her, a new medical school had recently opened in Jonesboro.

“I had some friends who were students at A-State [Arkansas State University], and I came one weekend to visit them,” Duncan said. “I saw the NYITCOM campus, and sometimes you just have a gut feeling. It was the only place I applied.”

Duncan completed NYITCOM’s Master of Biomedical Sciences in 2023 and was admitted to the osteopathic medicine (D.O.) program in 2024. She expressed immense gratitude for how the biomedical sciences program set her up for success in the D.O. program.

“I owe so much to the master’s program here,” Duncan says. “I don’t think that I really understood the extent of the gratitude I had for it until I finished my first year of medical school. It taught me how to study in medical school. It introduced me to concepts that I hadn’t seen in years if at all. It really was the perfect program to prepare me for the next step.”

She is drawn to neurology due in part to the fact that her grandfather leaned so heavily on his neurologist following his accident. She also enjoys the long-term relationship-building aspect that comes with the specialty. Ultimately, Duncan is committed to practicing in or near the community where she was raised in Crittenden County.

Her desire to return home is also influenced by the fact that the community is supporting her during her medical education. In 2019, the Crittenden Memorial Hospital Foundation established a scholarship for students from the county, and Duncan is one of three students from the area who have benefited from it.

“Crittenden County is the bread and butter of who I am,” Duncan says. “The community has supported my family. Crittenden Memorial Foundation wants to produce doctors to bring back to that area, and that’s what I aim to do. This is where I want to be.”

Duncan is grateful for the opportunity to participate in health outreach events through Delta Care-a-van events and attend a school that’s dedicated to making a difference through medicine and helping its students do the same.

“I’m surrounded by people who have the same calling,” Duncan says. “I genuinely feel like there’s a passion for serving. I love to go to health education events and visit with people. You get to see the impact you’re making.”

Just over a year after his accident, Duncan’s grandfather succumbed to a complication related to his injuries. While he won’t get to see her don a long white coat, she knows he’d be extremely proud of her.

“All of our lives changed so much that day, and I’m driven by the fact that I’m going to make something really good come out of it,” Duncan says. “I know it would bring a huge smile to his face, and that’s all the motivation I need.”

By Casey Pearce