For Colton Campbell, the path to medicine has taken him from finance and real estate to clinical care, international service and recently, rural Idaho where he spent four weeks discovering what it means to care for patients in a close-knit community.
An Idaho WWAMI student from Rigby, Colton completed his Rural Underserved Opportunities Program (RUOP) rotation at Steele Memorial Medical Center in Salmon from July 13 to Aug. 7, 2026 under the mentorship of preceptor Joseph Krakker III, DO. The four-week elective gives rising second year medical students an opportunity to immerse themselves in community medicine while learning firsthand about the unique challenges and rewards of practicing in rural and underserved communities.
Colton’s journey to medicine is anything but conventional. After earning an undergraduate degree in finance and real estate, he gained clinical experience as a certified nursing assistant, hospital volunteer and Spanish interpreter. His experiences as a missionary in Argentina and while mentoring entrepreneurs in Mexico further shaped his understanding of the importance of compassionate, culturally responsive care—particularly for rural and Spanish-speaking populations.
Those experiences ultimately led Colton to pursue medicine. Now, he hopes to combine his business background with his medical training to find innovative ways to improve access to care and make health care more efficient in underserved communities.
Through RUOP, Colton was eager to build meaningful relationships with patients and providers while gaining a deeper understanding of rural medicine firsthand.
When he’s away from the clinic, Colton enjoys hiking, fly fishing, cycling and playing guitar. But his greatest source of motivation is never far away: his wife and daughter.