Award-Winning Lindsey Wilson College Graduate Bethany Harting Inspired to Make Healthcare More Accessible

bethany harting COLUMBIA, Ky. – Lindsey Wilson College graduate Bethany Harting is starting off 2025 in India, in no small part because of her experience as a Lindsey Wilson student.

Harting, a 2019 Lindsey Wilson graduate, is spending four weeks at a hospital in northern India near the Nepal border as part of her clinical work for her medical degree at Campbell University.

Harting will graduate in May with a doctorate in osteopathic medicine from the Campbell Jerry M. Wallace School of Medicine, where she was recently named the North Carolina school’s 2024 Student Doctor of the Year.

Harting said she felt called to spend four weeks studying and serving in India because of a 4-1/2 month study-abroad experience she had while a Lindsey Wilson undergraduate. A John B. Begley Scholar and Bonner Scholar at Lindsey Wilson, Harting spent a semester studying at the University of Hyderabad, which is in the northern part of southern India.

“I fell in love with the people, the food, the country and everything about it,” said Harting. “While I was visiting a rural village on the east coast of India, the Lord broke my heart for the people and He really opened my eyes to many needs there.”

Career plans

Harting had known since she was a middle school student in Webster County, Kentucky, that she wanted to be a missionary and work in healthcare.

“But it wasn’t until my senior year of high school that I decided that I was going to be a physician,” said Harting, who graduated from Grayson County High School after her family moved to Leitchfield, Kentucky.

At Lindsey Wilson, Harting created her own major, after consulting with her first-year adviser, Jennifer Furkin, who is a communication faculty member and program coordinator of the college’s interdisciplinary studies major.

Working closely with religion professor Terry Swan and chemistry professor Brian Hilker, Harting graduated with a Lindsey Wilson degree that combined courses she needed for medical school with missional leadership courses from the college’s Christian ministries major. Her capstone project focused on medical missions and mission work.

Also at Lindsey Wilson, Harting took part in undergraduate research on a bacteriophage with biology professor Melissa Clauson and instructor Tabitha Ellis. That led her to take an extra year at Campbell, where she focused on research for a year after her pre-clinical years. That experience resulted in Harting presenting research on national and international stages. In 2023, Harting and a fellow researcher at Campbell won first place for their original research at the American Academy of Osteopathy National Convocation.

“So many people at Lindsey Wilson encouraged and supported me,” said Harting. “They all helped lay the foundation for me to have the opportunity to do all of the amazing things I have done since I left Lindsey Wilson.”

The next step

After she graduates from Campbell in May, Harting will begin a family medicine residency. She’ll find out later this year where she’ll spend the next three years, and she has impressive career plans.

While at Campbell, Harting enjoyed instructing and training students and physicians at workshops, which has sparked an interest in possibly teaching.

“I’m open to wherever the Lord leads me, but I would love to teach,” she said. “So I could see myself working at a residency program or teaching in some capacity.”

Harting also wants to serve in underserved areas, both in the United States and abroad.

“I want to help improve access to affordable, quality healthcare,” she said. “I could see myself at some point doing medical mission work in India. I have a heart for India. While I was there, God captured my heart for the people and the place, and I really have a desire to go back there in some capacity and be part of a medical mission.”

Pictured: Lindsey Wilson College graduate Bethany Harting is spending four weeks at a hospital in northern India near the Nepal border as part of her clinical work for her medical degree at Campbell University. A 2019 Lindsey Wilson graduate, Harting will graduate in May with a doctorate in osteopathic medicine from the Campbell Jerry M. Wallace School of Medicine, where she was recently named the North Carolina school’s 2024 Student Doctor of the Year. Under her white coat, Harting is wearing a traditional Indian kurta, which is the dress code while she is serving there.

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