Voices Across ACOI: Mark Baldwin, DO, MACOI

Creating Ripple Effects through Excellence in Education

A Conversation with Mark Baldwin, DO, MACOI, 2025 ACOI Teacher of the Year

Every physician’s career is built upon the vital foundation of education. Educating new physicians, then, means not only guiding them on their own unique journeys, but also paying forward what one has been given. Mark Baldwin, DO, MACOI, has firsthand experience of this trajectory. A professor and Chair of the Department of Primary Care Medicine at Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine (ARCOM) since late 2024, Dr. Baldwin is board-certified in both nephrology and internal medicine. Before his current role, he served as a Professor and Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at the Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences (PNWU) College of Osteopathic Medicine from 2018 to 2024. His career has led him to numerous teaching experiences and several teaching awards. Now, Dr. Baldwin has been selected to receive the ACOI Teacher of the Year award. He will be honored at the Convocation of Fellows and Awards Ceremony on October 10, 2025, at ACOI 2025 in Marco Island, Florida.

“I am really honored and humbled by this,” he said about finding out he’d been chosen. “Two of my mentors—Dr. Mike Johnston and Dr. Gary Slick—have received this in the past. To be in the pantheon of my ultimate heroes is quite an honor.”

A Career Built Upon Positive Influence

Dr. Baldwin emphasized how fortunate he was to have several inspiring and encouraging mentors of his own. Being an outlier among a long line of dentists—“I was the turncoat in the family,” he joked—it was especially meaningful to cross paths with several role models and examples to follow in his chosen field.

His interest in medicine was sparked after being drafted and  serving as an army medic at Walter Reed Army Medical Center during the Vietnam conflict. “That was the first place I’d heard of DOs,” he said. “I worked with a bunch of them, and they were great doctors.” With that seed planted, after graduating from Illinois State University, Dr. Baldwin attended Kansas City University College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Early in his medical education, he knew he wanted to pursue internal medicine. “I liked the thought process and problem solving—being able to explain why the patient got sick,” he said. That decision led to meeting one of many influential teachers: Mike Johnson, DO, MACOI, Dr. Baldwin’s first mentor. “He’s one of the heroes of ACOI,” he said. “I got to work with him twice as student—he's a terrific physician, and a good teacher.”

Dr. Baldwin completed his residency in Chicago, Illinois, at the former Chicago Osteopathic Hospital (now Midwestern University College of Osteopathic Medicine). There, he worked under Gary Slick, DO, MACOI, another ACOI member who proved to be a highly supportive influence. “He was really an inspiration,” said Dr. Baldwin. “He got me interested in both education and nephrology—I had phenomenal training there.”

In light of these connections, it’s unsurprising that Dr. Baldwin has been highly involved with ACOI through the years since finishing medical school. “I belong to a lot of organizations, and I'm active with all of them,” said Dr. Baldwin; those include the American Osteopathic Association, the American Society of Nephrology, the International Society of Nephrology, and the Washington Osteopathic Medical Association, for which he served as President in 2024 and now serves as Vice President. “But I've always considered ACOI to be my home base. It’s the most personable professional organization that I’m a part of, and it’s always been that way.”

Giving Back by Sharing Guidance

In Chicago, Dr. Baldwin was truly, as he put it, bitten by the teaching bug. Being part of an academic medical center meant residents needed to stay at the forefront of education for the students and interns. He took that to heart, and enjoyed it so much that, when he went into private practice in Columbus, Ohio, he immediately became a preceptor for students and residents. At that point, he said, “I joked that I liked education because it forced me to keep up,” Dr. Baldwin said. More than that, though, “I really enjoyed watching students and residents evolve as physicians and as learners.”

He had the chance to follow that path more deliberately when a friend at West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine asked him to develop and teach a renal course for second-year medical students. “I did that for about 15 years,” he said. “It gave me experience with teaching preclinical students. It's a little bit of a different ball game, because most of them have had little to no medical experience. The metaphor I use is, you’re trying to describe a hot fudge sundae to those who have never eaten ice cream.” He found this challenge incredibly rewarding: “What I really love about teaching is the light bulb moment—when I go to explain something, and I can tell by the look in their eyes that they understood.”

That teaching offers this rich, interpersonal experience is a major part of what keeps Dr. Baldwin going. He still enjoys the several unique facets of it: from the act of teaching itself to the students and their perspective to the opportunity to give back what he received from other educators.

“Most sensible people my age are retired,” he said, “but I enjoy interacting with students. I enjoy seeing the enthusiasm, the idealism.” Beyond this, he said, “A big part of what we do as physicians, whether we’re educators or not, is mentorship. I’m a physician today in part because of really terrific mentors I’ve had. I’ve had the fortune of being able to mentor students and residents. And I learn a lot from my students. I always like to get their viewpoint and have that two-way dialogue.”

His students have clearly benefited from—and are grateful for—this approach. Among the many honors he has received, Dr. Baldwin was recently given the Golden Cane Award of Outstanding Achievement in Educational Excellence by the PNWU Class of 2027. This award is granted by PNWU students nearing the end of their second year of medical school; they choose one professor they feel has inspired them the most to receive it.

When he was notified about the Golden Cane Award, Dr. Baldwin said, “I was rather surprised because I had already left PNWU months before that. We have this thing toward the end of the second year called The Last Lecture—they pick a couple of professors to provide parting words of wisdom. Frequently, it was Dr. Al Brady and I along with Dr. Bill Elliott. After that, they gave me that award this past year. It was really touching.”

Embracing Steadiness and Growth

The way in which Dr. Baldwin was selected for this honor reflects the flow he has established in his career—moving between building strong connections in certain places and roles and being willing to grow and move onto new places and roles when the opportunity arises.

Dr. Baldwin initially came to Washington state after 22 years in Columbus. He and his wife were already looking for a change; he especially wanted to teach on a more full-time basis. When he was invited to the internal medicine faculty at a new residency program in Mount Vernon, Washington, that was their next move. After three years, Dr. Baldwin was again recruited to a new position, this time as the Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at PNWU. He was there for a little over six and a half years before moving onto his newest role at ARCOM.

Regarding PNWU, he said, “I had a really good run there, and I worked with some phenomenal colleagues, including Dr. Al Brady. He was the one who nominated me for this [Teacher of the Year] award. We had one of the greatest working relationships I've ever had with a colleague.” Yet when the ARCOM role presented itself, growth was calling; at PNWU, Dr. Baldwin said, “I had kind of done everything I could do there, and I wanted to do more.” As of now, he has been there for about eight months. It has been a rewarding experience so far, he said, even allowing him more time to do research than he was previously able to take on.

Continuing Forward by Connecting with Community

In addition to the ceremony, Dr. Baldwin is preparing to give several presentations at the Annual Convention. He will lead two nephrology-focused sessions, an update on hypertension, and a student session on neurological evaluations. It’s another opportunity to engage as an educator, and one that Dr. Baldwin is looking forward to, especially after doing so at past conventions, too.

“Last year,” he shared, “we did a session for the students on the proper use of the ophthalmoscope, the device we use to look in the eye. The students really liked it—it was low-pressure, and they walked away with good information. This year, we’re going to do some highlights on aspects of the neurological exam—things that people are not usually as confident in. I want to make sure they understand how to do this and to have a correct interpretation of their findings.” As a self-described advocate of the physical exam, the precept underlying the presentation will be, “When all else fails, examine the patient.”

When asked if he had any additional words of wisdom to share, Dr. Baldwin said, “I really believe in the new generation of physicians. I also try to inspire them, that you can change the system, but you have to do it as one voice united. If we do that, we can make things better [for both patients and fellow physicians]. But we have to put our egos aside.” With his own experiences living this out—paying forward what he’s been given and building community every step of the way—it’s clear that Dr. Baldwin is a fitting person to inspire others in that growth-oriented direction.