Deborah Curry

Director of Rural Outreach and Development,
Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine

By Amanda Larch

While attending Washington & Lee University School of Law, Debbie Curry fell in love with teaching, and that’s when she knew she wanted to be involved in higher education. Now the director of rural outreach and development at Marshall University’s Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, Curry works to promote health care education in rural West Virginia, which she says is a dream job.

“I loved the whole atmosphere of creativity and learning and watching students grow,” she says. “I have been fortunate to be involved in higher education for most of my career, and as an adjunct instructor, I am able to indulge my love of teaching. The students’ questions force me to stay up to date on legal and current issues.”

Curry and the Robert C. Byrd Center for Rural Health team at Marshall have created and implemented a new program to make it easier for young West Virginians to attend medical school.

“We have the opportunity to do some good things for rural West Virginians, from working with high school and college students and facilitating community health research to creating a clinical and educational hub in the coalfields and working on an accelerated program to keep our brightest young minds in West Virginia to practice medicine,” she says.

Growing up in Mercer County, Curry experienced firsthand the lack of access to health care resources, which inspires her work recruiting the best potential providers as well as her role as the president of the West Virginia Rural Health Association (WVRHA).

“It is critical that we have talented health care providers who are committed to rural practice and understand the unique needs of some of our most remote and underserved communities,” she says. “It is a privilege to be able to work on programs that encourage and empower young people with an interest in health care education to help them realize their educational and career goals.”

As president of the WVRHA, Curry has gained more confidence in herself.

“Heading up a statewide organization means balancing the needs and viewpoints of about 800 members and also chairing the board,” she says. “This experience has given me confidence in an area in which I had little experience.”

While her job is in health care and higher education, Curry still uses her law background and education every day in a unique way.

“My law degree and experience allow me to contribute to our team in several ways. Because we take on varied projects, there are legal issues around many of them,” she says. “From offering advice to drafting memorandums and policies to thinking through ramifications of strategic plans, the problem-solving abilities and communication skills my legal education offered are invaluable to my every day work.”

Curry wants students to know they can do incredible things with a background in law.

“I would encourage young people to consider the incredible breadth of work that law offers,” she says. “I have definitely taken the legal road less traveled, but it has been a rewarding and exciting ride.”