First resident physicians graduate from Bothwell-University of Missouri Rural Family Medicine Residency
Bothwell Regional Health Center and University of Missouri School of Medicine recently celebrated a milestone in their collaborative Rural Family Medicine Residency with the graduation of its first two resident physicians, Dr. Brittany Pendergraft and Dr. Levi Harris.
The three-year residency began in 2019 after the University of Missouri received a federal grant and selected Bothwell as the first in the state to implement a rural family medicine residency to train family physicians to serve in rural communities. The program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.
Pendergraft and Harris joined the program as its inaugural class and have spent the last three years completing rotations in Sedalia and Columbia in all domains of family medicine, including rotations in emergency medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics and general surgery. They trained under the supervision of both Bothwell and University of Missouri physicians who serve as residency faculty.
Dr. Misty Todd, residency director and a family medicine and obstetrics physician at Bothwell Cole Camp Clinic, said the graduation marks an important achievement for the program and a significant milestone for rural medical education in Missouri.
“Being able to say that we fully trained and graduated two board-certified family physicians from a rural training track is an accomplishment no other health system in the state can boast,” she said. “Dr. Pendergraft and Dr. Harris have helped shape the culture and expectations for the residents who follow. I’m grateful for their dedication, commitment to rural medicine and leadership in establishing our residency as an outstanding option for training rural family physicians.”
Todd added that both physicians have chosen to continue their medical training and have been accepted to highly competitive fellowship programs.
“This is quite a feat for an inaugural class,” she said. “Dr. Harris will be doing a one-year fellowship in sports medicine at the University of Missouri in Columbia. Dr. Pendergraft will be doing a one-year surgical obstetrics fellowship in Tallahassee, Florida. She will return to Bothwell in fall 2026 to provide inpatient, obstetric and newborn care in the hospital and care for patients at Bothwell in Cole Camp Clinic. It is truly an amazing return on investment to be able to welcome our own graduates back to serve the community they trained in.”
The residency’s capacity is six physicians with two new residents joining each year as two graduate. The curriculum includes hands-on experience across multiple specialties, didactic education, procedure training and rotations in hospital and outpatient settings.
“As our first two residents graduate and we welcome two new residents to the program, it’s a great opportunity to say ‘thank you’ to Bothwell’s administration, the medical staff, the rest of the Bothwell team and the community for wholeheartedly welcoming and supporting the residency,” Todd said. “It truly takes all of us to make the program successful.
”For more information about the program, visit brhc.org/residency. To make an appointment with a resident physician, call Bothwell Family Medicine Associates at 660.827.2883.
