Springfield Clinical Campus Students Honor Patients Through Legacy Teachers™ Program

The University of Missouri School of Medicine’s Springfield Clinical Campus hosted a special luncheon April 26 designed to honor patients who inspired and provided important lessons to third-year medical students.

The Legacy Teachers™ event at Highland Springs Country Club in Springfield provided medical students the opportunity to submit essays, artwork or poetry describing a patient they recognized as one of their greatest teachers. Three students from the Springfield campus honored patients during the event.

Under the guidance of 14 associate clerkship directors at Mercy Health and Cox Health, the medical students at the Springfield Clinical Campus rotate through core areas of medicine during their third year, and electives during their fourth and final year. More than 400 physicians at Mercy and Cox serve as faculty for the Springfield Clinical Campus.

Betsy Garrett, MD, professor emerita in the MU School of Medicine Department of Family and Community Medicine and director of the Legacy Teachers program, served as the master of ceremonies for the event, which was organized by the University of Missouri School of Medicine in collaboration with Mercy Health and Cox Health.

“These Legacy Teachers have made a profound impact on our students both personally and professionally,” said Garrett. “Our goal was to honor and recognize the immense contribution of our Legacy Teachers and their families.”

The Legacy Teachers received a certificate from the medical school recognizing their contributions to student education. Students involved also received a certificate as well as a Legacy Teacher pin, which was created in 2021 in recognition of the 15th anniversary of the program’s creation.