Hi, I am Drew Keister, MD, vice chair for education in the Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) Department of Family Medicine (DoFM). I have had the pleasure of being involved with the Schuylkill Rural Family Medicine residency program since its conception, and it’s a great joy to see it coming into reality!

I started my path as an educator before I completed my residency. Although I had always sworn that I would not follow my mother’s footsteps as a teacher, I found that my happiest days in residency were when I was honored to work with a medical student or junior resident. It is so fun to watch a learner grasp a new concept or successfully do a skill for the first time. Being a teacher is what feeds my soul, and I am privileged that it is a part of my daily work.

In 2008, I returned home to join the LVHN DoFM as part of the LVHN’s residency's P4 (Preparing the Personal Physician for Practice) national pilot experiment. Since then, I have served as primary care clerkship director for medical students, family medicine residency associate program director and residency program director. The vice chair role has allowed me to broaden my focus to include oversight of the DoFm’s other educational programs, including continuing medical education, fellowship programs, and predoctoral training, while staying involved in medical student and resident learning. I also continue to practice broad-spectrum family medicine, including maternity care.

I love living in the Lehigh Valley. I can be surrounded by cornfields if I walk a mile in one direction, but I also can enjoy all the advantages of a mid-sized city, like good restaurants, festivals, concerts and sporting events. If I want the amenities of the largest cities in the country, Philadelphia and New York are one and two hours away, respectively.

Although the Lehigh Valley already felt like home, the DoFM has become my second family. I love my colleagues and my patients, and I have been privileged to learn from incredible mentors. My chief professional aim is to pay forward the wonderful gifts that I have received here at LVHN.

Schuylkill County is newer to me. I have always been a fan of Yuengling Lager, but I did not know much else about the county before starting work on the rural residency. I have been blessed to meet a wonderful group of doctors, community members and friends as a part of this project. I cannot wait to be a part of the new residency that we are creating together.

When I am not working, I enjoy time with my two teenage daughters, Rowen and Alina, soccer, disc golf, historical fencing and strategy board games.