Voices Across ACOI: Eric Smith, DO, FACOI and Hye Rim Smith, DO, FACOI

A Shared Journey into Osteopathic Medicine

Eric Smith, DO, FACOI and Hye Rim Smith, DO, FACOI carve a community-oriented path together

For Eric Smith, DO, FACOI, and Hye Rim Smith, DO, FACOI, osteopathic internal medicine is a family affair, and a journey they’ve had the chance to take on together. Both members of ACOI, the Smiths also became ACOI Fellows together this past October at ACOI 2025. To both of them, it was an important step, one that marks how much they value the osteopathic internal medicine community as a whole.

The Smiths met in medical school at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM); before that, the experiences that led them there were incredibly distinct from one another. Eric grew up in the Detroit metro area and went to Michigan State University (MSU) for his undergraduate education—a natural choice, being both part of a family with multiple generations of alumni and a lifelong MSU fan. After graduating, he worked in the MSU microbiology department. “That’s what led me to go to medical school,” he said. “I wanted a bit more personal work, more face-to-face interaction. I was working in the lab with Petri dishes and not having a whole lot of conversations.” Beyond that, he had always liked science and wanted to stay in that field; as such, medicine seemed like a good fit and turned out to be exactly that.

Hye Rim, on the other hand—as Eric put it—is “from all over the place.” She shared: “I was born and raised in South Korea for the first 10 years of my life. My stepfather was in the military, so that involved travel in different locations.” By a young age, she had a strong understanding of existing health disparities—not only but especially because of being from a rural area on South Korea where those disparities were stark. “Even the whole process of adjusting to the military lifestyle was a big step up in medical care,” she said; that was her first exposure to what would be considered standard preventive care in the U.S., including procedures like vaccinations. “In some ways,” she added, “my family members going through health conditions and scares really motivated me to look into health careers. As I grew older, those were the kinds of things that drove me to be more invested in trying to get involved with that and make a difference.”

One of the first places in the U.S. where Hye Rim's family moved to was South Carolina, which was where she learned English. It was another place, too, where she saw striking contrasts in available healthcare. She continued to absorb and observe these cultural differences; by the time she was in high school, her family had moved to Alaska. After attending college in Iowa, she went to Erie, Pennsylvania for medical school at LECOM.

At LECOM, the program was well-structured and systematic in a way that would turn out to be particularly helpful: through mandatory attendance with alphabetical seating. Eric said, “You get to know the people that have a last name like yours. Those were all my good friends. And just a few seats down from me was Hye Rim. That’s how we met: in class.” It is a common story at LECOM—and the Smiths’ version of it led them all the way through rotations and residency together.

As neither Eric nor Hye Rim were from a family of doctors, they were initially uncertain about which types of medicine they wanted to pursue. Hye Rim knew she was interested in surgery; Eric, in pulmonary and critical care. After their rotations began, it became clear that internal medicine was a great choice for both.

For residency, Eric and Hye Rim ended up at Ascension Genesys Hospital in Grand Blanc, Michigan. Michigan, they found, was an excellent place to be a DO, with numerous DO-friendly hospitals, residencies, and fellowships. This was a time when the DO and MD match were beginning to blend, which ultimately attracted many more DOs to stay in the area, giving osteopathic medicine an even stronger presence in Michigan. That effect led Hye Rim and Eric to really embrace their identities as DOs. To that end, becoming part of ACOI was an incredibly significant step.

Finding Roots in the Internal Medicine and ACOI Communities

With internal medicine as their foundation, Hye Rim eventually went into cardiology, and Eric went into pulmonary and critical care. Still, Hye Rim said, “Before our respective specialties, we’re internists. We always look back at our days at Genesys where we were internal medicine residents—a lot of the things we learned have been really crucial on a daily basis. It was important for us to continue our internal medicine training.”

Eric agreed and emphasized how significant an influence ACOI has been for them—especially through relationships and mentorship. “We had great mentors,” he said, “people we looked up to in med school, in residency, and they were in ACOI.” A few of those people included Susan Enright, DO, MACOI, immediate past president of ACOI; Mark Stuart, DO, FACOI; and Jennifer R. Ely, DO, FACOI. They’re intentional about staying in touch with those mentors, too, and appreciate how close-knit the osteopathic internal medicine community is overall.

Hye Rim also spoke to how much they valued ACOI having a distinctive identity and being a home base specifically for osteopathic physicians. Making the most of that, for them both, means frequently attending ACOI events, including the Annual Convention, and engaging with ACOI CME offerings. It’s also what led to becoming ACOI Fellows.

“We see our mentors with this label, and we want it, too,” said Eric. “Part of what makes the DO experience special is, we made the decision early on to do everything through the DO path. We did our [AOBIM] boards, match, fellowship, all through the DO pathway. I think we both recognize that this worked really well for us from the beginning. It’s just the next step along a path that’s worked really well for us.”

“It’s a tradition,” Hye Rim said. “We want to contribute to leading and continuing this organization.”

Medical Careers founded upon Meaningful Relationships

Now, Eric and Hye Rim practice at Bronson Health, a Michigan-based healthcare system, albeit at different locations: Eric predominantly works at the Bronson Battle Creek Hospital; Hye Rim, at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, going to Battle Creek every three weeks.

“The way it worked out is really nice,” said Eric. “Hye Rim works a couple of miles down the street. A lot of the doctors in the system work at both places. It does end up that she knows the Kalamazoo people a little better, and I know the Battle Creek people better—I'm not stepping on her toes in the hospital, not getting into disagreements about sharing patients in the same building. We never did have that problem anyway.”

As far as working within the same system, both the Smiths and their patients love it. The patients in particular, especially those Eric and Hye Rim share, love to find out they’re married. “It’s not all that clear; our last name is Smith,” said Eric, “but when people do figure out that we’re together, it’s great.” Both are known locally for the quality of their care, certainly another reason for that response. (Eric has been the winner of Bronson’s award for excellence in giving primary care for the past two years.) Overall, it's clear that both Hye Rim and Eric have made an impressive and meaningful impact—as physicians and as people deeply invested in their community.

Driven by a Strong Sense of Connection

As such, they place great importance in being where they are, and in serving the next generation while doing so. Their careers take up plenty of time— Hye Rim said, to that end, “We’re starting a lot of different projects [at Bronson], and that keeps us pretty busy”—but in the spare time they do have, the Smiths teach medical students at Western Michigan University School of Medicine and residents at WMed Health.

Family remains central to both of them as well. Eric’s family is from the metro Detroit area; his parents, when they retired, moved to East Lansing. Hye Rim's parents and sister ended up relocating to Michigan too. Her sister, in fact, went to dental school at LECOM: “It was a cool experience to hood her during her ceremony,” said Hye Rim. LECOM continues to be a big part of their lives, as does Michigan as a whole. They feel they’ve found the right place for them, in an area with plenty to offer, around others who enjoy being there too. Getting to strike a strong balance where they can live full lives and embrace their careers wholeheartedly is the heart of this journey the Smiths have taken together, and one they look forward to continuing to share.