Pediatrician with rare credentials serves rural southwest Alabama

CHATOM, Ala. — On a good day, Dr. Meagan Carpenter sees 40 to 45 patients a day in Chatom. That number can increase to 60 when she makes rounds to the nursing home and serves patients from Clarke, Choctaw and Wilcox counties and beyond, including some from nearby Mississippi communities.

Dr. Carpenter, who received the 2022 Alabama Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics Early Career Physician Award, is on the front lines of rural health care service, armed with a growing list of credentials and fueled by appreciative patients.

“It was the first time that they honored any pediatrician who'd been in practice for less than 10 years, and at the time I had only been in practice for three years," she said of the award. "It was a huge honor that they recognized what we do in rural medicine and how challenging it can be.”

The doctor sees those challenges every day, often arriving to work at 6 a.m.

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“Currently, I serve as the only internal medicine specialist in Washington County and the only pediatrician from Mobile to Selma,” she said.

Carpenter completed medical school and then matched into a Med-Peds residency with the University of South Alabama. “Med-Peds is thought of as the magical unicorn of medicine," she said. "We are kind of like the Navy Seals of the non-surgical specialists because we are trained fully as internal medicine specialists and fully as pediatricians.”

Even more impressive is the fact that it is one of the rarest credentials in the country, as the National Med-Peds Residents Association stated, “Currently, there are 79 Med-Peds programs offering around 350 first year resident positions each year.” This is compared to the 5,000 Family Medicine spots reported by the American Association of Family Physicians in 2023.

Carpenter has been practicing medicine in Chatom post residency for almost four years now. You cannot miss her when coming into Chatom Primary Care because of her brightly colored scrubs, big earrings and bubbly personality.

However, seeing patients at Chatom Primary Care is only the top of the list of the many ways she serves Washington County and surrounding communities.

Carpenter also serves as the Chief of Staff at Washington County Hospital and Nursing Home. Additionally, she runs their Swing Bed Program, which she said “is like the acute rehabilitation after somebody has a hospitalization or has a qualifying diagnosis and qualifying hospital stay.”

She is also on the active medical staff for the nursing home, and she is the medical director for Vital Caring Group Hospice, which serves four counties: Mobile, Washington, Clarke, and Choctaw.

Carpenter said she is able to juggle all of these responsibilities because, “You have to and you want to because you love your community. I think that's where it all stems from. This is my home. I love my people, and I'm very protective of my people. I want them to be healthy, and I want them to have a good, prosperous, and healthy life.”

Even with everything she manages, Carpenter is constantly expanding her expertise.

Because she practices in a rural area where access to medical specialists is limited, she has to stay up to date on every specialty. This year Carpenter is going to be sitting for the Bariatric boards to become a triple board-certified doctor.

Carpenter said, “In medical school they teach a lot about illness but not about wellness, and wellness is equally as important. If I can prevent illness from happening, that is equally important. So that's why medical weight loss and obesity management has been such a focus of mine recently.”

Another focus of Carpenter’s is training new physicians. Carpenter said, “Part of the Hippocratic Oath is that you promise to teach others your craft. That is the only way that we can ensure that people continue to provide good quality care for years and years and years to come.”

Carpenter now serves as an adjunct assistant professor through the Department of Pediatrics at the University of South Alabama. She has Nurse Practitioner, Pre-Med, Med-Peds, Pediatrics, and any students/residents interested in rural medicine come shadow her in Washington County.

Her journey to Chatom started with such a shadowing experience.

Originally from Brookhaven, Mississippi, she received her undergraduate degree in biomedical sciences at Mississippi State University. She then obtained her master’s in biomedical sciences at Mississippi College and later attended the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Medicine.

While in medical school, a family medical emergency caused Carpenter and her husband to move to southwest Alabama to be closer to family. Due to the move, Carpenter transferred to the University of South Alabama Medical School. Such transfers are unusual, but because of her high scores USA accepted her.

This unconventional transfer during her third year of medical school was serendipitous, as it led her to cross paths with Dr. Steve Donald, family physician and owner of Chatom Primary Care. Dr. Donald, an adjunct professor at the University of South Alabama, invited Carpenter to come to Chatom to shadow him at his practice.

Carpenter reflected on her first experience visiting Washington County, saying, “I remember being with Dr. Donald and thinking, he has got to have the coolest job. He gets to hang out with people he knows all day and be able to improve their lives. What more could you want except to save the lives of the people who you love?”

Jessica Criswell, a Living Democracy student at Auburn University, is living and learning this summer in her hometown of Chatom, Alabama, as a Jean O'Connor Snyder Intern with the David Mathews Center for Civic Life.  The nonprofit program, coordinated by the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts, prepares undergraduate college students for civic life through living-learning experiences in the summer.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Pediatrician with rare credentials serves rural southwest Alabama