Q A &
with Steve Harris
Since the UPIKE-Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine (KYCOM) welcomed its first class, Steve Harris, Ph.D., has educated students as a professor of pharmacology and helped lead the college as an associate dean. Mark Baggett talked with Harris about his career at KYCOM spanning two decades and his post-retirement plans.
Q: You grew up in Georgia and North Carolina. What was your first visit to Pikeville like? A: I had a friend from graduate school who had just started at the medical school in 1997, and he suggested I apply for a position. I had been doing my postdoctoral training at the National Cancer Institute for three years, and I decided to apply. I had never been to Kentucky before and really didn’t know much about osteopathic medicine. I had a fantastic meeting with Dr. John Strosnider, the founding dean of the medical school.
Q: What was it that impressed you?
A: I could see Stro’s passion and enthusiasm for the mission of the college of osteopathic medicine. It was inspiring. The school was brand new, but it had a mission of training osteopathic physicians to practice in small towns in Kentucky and in the Appalachian region and to focus on primary care. That’s still the mission today, and that was why I wanted to go there.
Q: What kind of transition did you have in coming to Pikeville?
A: I grew up in a small town of 1,200 people in Georgia, so Pikeville was actually a bigger town — “a big little 26
UPIKE MAGAZINE | SPRING/SUMMER 2019
town,” as we say. It had the conveniences of a small town with a welcoming environment. I was very comfortable coming here. There’s a funny story about our move to Pikeville. We were living in Maryland and had to move our furniture. I had rented a house in Pikeville sight unseen. It was seven miles out in the county, and the landlord had sent me pictures. When we got there with the moving van, the house was one mile down a single lane road. I thought there’s no way I was going to get this truck close, and all I had was a small pick-up truck that could take two boxes at a time. When I came back to the truck, it was surrounded with, I think, eight local residents and four pick-up trucks. We moved all our stuff in one hour. I was so impressed that I wrote an article about it in the local newspaper.
Q: I know you’ve taught a lot of students, but who are some of the students who really stand out to you as representing KYCOM?
A: I’m very fond of the early days and my very first class, the Class of 2001. Jody Brown was a local kid, went to high school in Pikeville and to college here. He was what our school was all about. We train them up, and so many come back to practice here. Jody completed his residency
