Service-Oriented
At just eight years old, Student Doctor Dakota Schumaker sat with his mother in the parking lot of a Walgreens. A member of the Ohio Army National Guard, she carefully removed his stitches herself — not out of choice, but necessity. The alternative was a two-to-three-hour drive to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base: time she couldn’t spare while balancing work and family.
In that moment, Student Dr. Schumaker glimpsed both the strength of his mother’s resilience and the barriers military families face: a lesson that continues to shape his path in medicine.
His own service in the National Guard deepened that perspective.
“Many Soldiers in the Guard join because they need the supplemental income and can’t afford health insurance otherwise,” he shares. “I’ve had Soldiers who were consistently depressed, experienced homelessness, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. This played into my desire to be a physician that treats Soldiers and Veterans — and to advocate for better care for them.”
At PNWU, Student Dr. Schumaker found a community that mirrored those values.
“I interviewed at other schools that paid lip service to rural and underserved populations, but at PNWU I feel it,” he says.
“From working with the Union Gospel Mission to public health courses and community research, I see students and faculty living the mission — meeting patients where they are.”
Looking forward, his purpose is clear: to provide Soldiers and Veterans with the care they deserve.
“They continue to be a population that fail to receive adequate care,” he reflects. “That’s where I want to focus my career.”