Dr. William Kinderknecht and Caleb Liles, spent May 23 through June 3 together at Mosaic Specialty Care – West, where Kinderknecht served as a preceptor for Liles as he prepares for his second year of medical school at AT Still University of Osteopathic Medicine, Kirksville.

When Liles was thinking about his preceptors, it was an obvious choice to come home to Maryville. Prior to starting medical school, Liles served in multiple capacities within the Maryville hospital, including the emergency room, medical/surgical floor and mental health unit, as well as urgent care at Mosaic Life Care in St. Joseph.

He is a 2017 graduate of Maryville High School and 2021 graduate from Northwest Missouri State University.

While in high school, Liles became an active participant in the Northwest Missouri Area Health Education Center Program (AHEC). The mission of this program is to connect students to careers, professionals to communities and communities to better health. Through AHEC’s Career Enhancement Scholar Program, which targets students who have a desire to eventually pursue a health career, Liles was exposed to a variety of different health career fields through this experience, and this fueled his passion to take the step to medical school.

His long-term plan is to continue with more rotations in internal medicine and outpatient family medicine. He has a heart for rural medicine and working in a tight-knit community, like Maryville. His philosophy is, “if your patients truly know you on a personal level, then they are more likely to trust you.”