Darwin Conwell, MD, MSc, knows that being a successful leader for the University of Kentucky College of Medicine’s largest department, internal medicine, involves more than leadership meetings. It means being present. He is not just in the board room. He is in the clinic and the community joining his team to address the state’s most pressing health care needs.
As a chair and health care advocate, Dr. Conwell uses his platform to create lasting impact. He is engaging and educating the community about important disease treatment and prevention while training the next generation to carry on that expertise.
Dr. Conwell grew up in Ironton, Ohio, just across the river from Ashland, Ky., and in the heart of Appalachia. His mom’s family consisted of tobacco farmers from western Kentucky (Trigg County) who later worked in the southern Ohio steel mills. His dad's side of the family grew up in Alabama, and many of them migrated to work in the coal mines of West Virginia.
Dr. Conwell saw that detrimental physician shortages and a high prevalence of serious diseases were a lethal combination in his community. He became a doctor so that he could be part of big health care changes.
In 2022, his storied career led him to the UK College of Medicine as the Jack M. Gill Endowed Chair of Internal Medicine.
Dr. Conwell understands the importance of his leadership role. There are dire health care challenges in Kentucky. He leads a multidisciplinary department with experts across several priority areas.
Heart disease. Obesity and diabetes. Cancer. Substance use. Digestive diseases. Just to name a few.
He and his team help Kentuckians face these conditions through prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care management.
This year, he focused on a big opportunity – prevention.
“How can we intervene and address some of these disparities, get people to lose weight, eat healthier, exercise? Can we decrease the number of heart surgeries? Decrease cancer incidence? Reduce prevalence of diabetes?” Dr. Conwell asks. “We have to address it as health care providers. We have to provide our patients with the education they need to make critical lifestyle changes.
“We have to engage the community, educate them, and empower them to make changes.”
A major connection point for Dr. Conwell this year was local churches because they are great gathering places.
Dr. Conwell brought UK doctors, scientists, staff, and students to health fairs at Bracktown Baptist Church, Consolidated Baptist Church, Wesley United Methodist Church, and Broadway Christian Church this year. His team provided health care resources, blood pressure screenings, immunizations, diet and nutrition counseling, and more.
“We’re trying to inform communities of the need for prevention, early diagnosis, and hopefully get them early access to better treatment,” Dr. Conwell says.
A disproportionate number of African Americans suffer from pancreatitis and pancreas cancer. Dr. Conwell is a also a practicing gastroenterologist and chair of the National Pancreas Foundation African American Initiative, working to enhance awareness and help mitigate this health disparity.
At community health fairs, Dr. Conwell distributes information from the National Pancreas Foundation. He teaches patrons about risk factors for pancreatic disease such as obesity, diabetes, and substance use disorder. He informs them of life’s “essential eights,” eight conditions that could be modified to improve their health: eat better, be more active, quit tobacco, get healthy sleep, manage weight, control cholesterol, manage blood pressure, and manage blood sugar.
Dr. Conwell’s push for community health advocacy was recognized on a national stage this year.
Tukea Talbert, DNP, RN, spearheaded an award-winning project with Dr. Conwell and Dawn Baker, internal medicine clinical research coordinator. Together, they raised awareness about colon cancer prevention in Kentucky, particularly in mitigating colon cancer risk among diverse populations.
Named the Faith Leaders/UK HealthCare Collaborative, the team engaged with predominantly African American churches during the spring of 2023 for Colon Cancer Awareness Month.
In the fall, Dr. Talbert and the team received the prestigious Service Award for Colorectal Cancer Outreach, Prevention, and Year-Round Excellence (SCOPY) Award from the American College of Gastroenterology.
Dr. Conwell’s reach this year has extended beyond Kentucky’s borders. He attended and spoke at international conferences, spreading the word about the University of Kentucky’s achievements in health care.
These events included:
Dr. Conwell believes an academic medical center is also about preparing the next generation of health care workers, so he is excited about the prospect of making his University a “destination of choice” for education.
“We want to bring the brightest minds here to Kentucky, and we want them to stay here to practice,” he says.
Despite a busy schedule as chair, Dr. Conwell makes time to mentor students, residents, and fellows directly.
He still practices gastroenterology and endoscopy and teaches fellows and trainees during important procedures.
He is committed to research, and during their poster presentations at national conferences, he is his mentees’ ultimate cheerleader.
With an intentional and experienced leader like Dr. Conwell at the helm, trainees like gastroenterology fellow Kshitij Thakur, MD, feel prepared to take the reins. Dr. Thakur attributes his career trajectory to Dr. Conwell’s exceptional mentorship, and he was able to attend the American Pancreas Association Conference with Dr. Conwell this year.
“At conferences, he helps connect me to people. He really helped me feel heard. And I was not invisible at these conferences. I would be if I were on my own, but people were noticing me, and that was something that really helped me feel like, ‘you know what, I can do this.’
It’s just the personal connection he's able to make with you. He’s the department chair and I'm just a fellow. I'm like five levels below him. Dr. Conwell will just call out of the blue to check on you. ‘How’s it going? How’s the kiddo?’”
Dr. Conwell is educating not just the next generation of doctors, but the generations beyond. He is passionate about expanding career opportunities for everyone, including underrepresented students who want to pursue medicine – the dream he shared as a kid growing up in southern Ohio.
According to a study by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), Black men represent less than 3 percent of physicians in the U.S., fewer than in the 1970s.
Dr. Conwell is a mentor for the Building Excellence and Achievement in Medicine (BEAM) program, which shows middle schoolers the possibilities of a career in medicine. He periodically joins Saturday morning meetings with a presentation and hands-on activities. He encourages students to “stand and deliver” and answer questions with confidence. Last year, he helped lead the final “graduation” in the spring, which includes a healthy food demonstration and a white coat ceremony on campus.
“If I can serve as a role model to these kids, then I have done my job,” Dr. Conwell says. “I want them to know that they can do this, that the door is open for them to pursue a career in medicine.”
Hopefully, he says, many BEAM participants will become UK physicians some day.
In August of 2023, training at UK became an even better opportunity.
UK Markey Cancer Center was named Kentucky’s first and only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, the NCI’s highest distinction.
This honor recognizes UK for its leadership, resources, and depth of research as it relates to cancer care.
Dr. Conwell and his department – which includes cancer care specialists – celebrated with UK leaders, physicians, scientists, staff, learners, and Gov. Andy Beshear during the official announcement.
As a leader, Dr. Conwell continuously finds ways to celebrate his team, relish in their successes, and ensure the momentum continues.
He was among the first leaders within the college to partner with the Office for Organizational Well-Being on department improvement projects.
With the help of vice chair Angela Webb, MD, he surveyed the top concerns surrounding the culture of well-being within the internal medicine department. They held provider focus groups and formed a well-being coalition to create solutions.
Dr. Conwell and his employees are in this together. This year, he joined in celebrating 17 internal medicine faculty who received promotions from the Office of Faculty Advancement and Development. He also joined administrator Emily Lee as she completed the University’s Women’s Executive Leadership Development program.
“Together, as a team, you're creating those environments to educate the next group of physicians and researchers, and taking care of patients at the very top of your field,” Dr. Conwell says. “That should be celebrated.”
How does someone as busy as Dr. Conwell make time for everything?
He lives and breathes by his calendar.
He has found clever ways to mix both his work and personal time. He typically signs up for around 10 races in one year. This year, he finished more than 15 5Ks – always proudly sporting a UK baseball cap.
No matter how busy he gets, he will always set aside time for his family.
He loves being with his three children and six grandchildren – including one who arrived this year!
“This year my wife and I are making a more concerted effort to visit our children more frequently,” Dr. Conwell says. “Our grandkids are growing fast, and we want to be a part of their lives.”
He takes his wife, Kathy, with him to conferences. He also blocks off every Tuesday night for date night. It helps them get to know Lexington, Ky., and surrounding communities.
A packed schedule is par for the course when you’re leading the UK College of Medicine’s largest department. Dr. Conwell sees too much potential to stay idle.
He isn’t denying the amount of work it will take to get his department where he wants it to be, but he’s enjoying it so far. After an incredible year, he is excited to see what happens in, say, five years from now.
“I was given a great opportunity to come here and be an instrument of change,” Dr. Conwell says. “I love this job and the people of the Commonwealth.”
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