Dr. Ryan Mire ’93 served as national president for the American College of Physicians (ACP), the largest medical specialty professional society in the U.S., from 2022 to 2023. Because of his dedication to patients and the profession as an internal medicine physician, his passion for mentorship, and commitment to advance health equity, the ACP named their workforce development initiative in his honor: the ACP Ryan Mire, MD Summer Internship Program.
Established in 2022, the Ryan Mire, MD Summer Internship Program was designed to help advance equity in healthcare by inspiring and educating college students about the wide array of impactful careers available in healthcare and to design solutions with a lens for equitable healthcare for all. Now in the third year of this highly competitive program, the ACP is laying the groundwork for a legacy of education, empowerment, and design of health equity solutions, according to Mire.
Rhodes neuroscience major Julian McMillian ’25 from Nolensville, TN, was selected to participate in the 2024 eight-week summer internship. As part of the program, he worked for the ACP in Washington, DC, analyzing the changing dynamics of the internal medicine physician workforce, in order to help ACP better understand and address the challenge of the growing patient demand for primary care physicians, and the current overall decline in the U.S. physician workforce.
In addition to specific project development, interns visited multiple healthcare institutions to gain unique insights into various careers and aspects of healthcare. These sites included the Christiana Care Health System, the American Board of Internal Medicine, Johns Hopkins Medical Center, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Deloitte Health Equity Institute, Democracy Forward (health policy and advocacy), and the Mütter Museum (medical history and science museum).
Through Subject Matter Expert sessions, interns heard from different medical and healthcare professionals. “Being able to engage with so many esteemed professionals was an excellent opportunity to hear their journey and what it takes to get there,” said McMillian. “It was an opportunity to form connections that will be valuable for the future and can potentially help further a career or build bridges to other communities that would not be possible without these connections.”
One of the most impactful mentorship sessions for McMillian was with Mire, who provided insight on the history of medicine in the U.S. and the complexities of delivery of healthcare in this country. Because of his commitment to the program, Mire also spent individual time with each of the twelve interns.
“Dr. Mire’s mentorship has been invaluable, and I am glad I had the opportunity to meet with and talk to him. I am proud that we share the Rhodes College experience, and he is someone who I can rely on for any advice I may need from a mentor throughout my life.”
McMillian, who aspires to attend medical school and become a neurologist, heard about the internship after the Rhodes’ Health Professions Advising program sent out an email and application advertising the opportunity. Rhodes graduates have acceptance rates into medical school above the national average, and over the past five years, more than 300 Rhodes grads were accepted into post-graduate health programs—medicine, dentistry, optometry, pharmacy, veterinary, etc.
Rhodes provided Mire with an internship opportunity at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital when he was an undergraduate, and he credits the college’s strong science curriculum and liberal arts education in preparing him for medical school. After earning a bachelor’s degree in biology, he went on to receive an M.D. from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine and completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, where he was chief resident. Mire has many outstanding career accomplishments and continues to be involved in the Rhodes community, having served on the Rhodes College Board of Trustees and the Rhodes Alumni Executive Board. He also is the parent of a member of the Rhodes Class of 2023.
Mire is a private practice internal medicine physician in Nashville, TN, near McMillian’s hometown, and said, “I reached out to Julian after he was selected to join the 2024 intern cohort, and we met at my office prior to his departure for the summer program. I kept in touch with him throughout the program and will continue to provide mentorship for Julian going forward to support his journey for matriculating through medical school.”
McMillian is just as enthusiastic about continuing to work together and said about ACP’s internship program named in Mire’s honor, “I hope this can be the beginning of a pipeline for Rhodes students to participate in this wonderful program.”