Hometown: Saint Ansgar, Iowa

Undergrad: North Iowa Area Community College (associate’s degree), University of Iowa, biochemistry and molecular biology (bachelor’s degree)

First-year medical student Carter Salz isn't afraid to get his hands dirty. Growing up in his rural, close-knit hometown of Saint Ansgar, Salz learned to be grateful for the community and people that shaped him.  

"I come from a rural town with a lot of farmers and tradespeople, and my parents were no exception to that," Salz says. "Their work ethic and values really rubbed off on me."

His first jobs weren't typical high school jobs. Salz worked as a janitor, a roofing technician, and an auto detailer, and he had several odd jobs in between.  

"Being a first-generation student and coming from the background that I came from gave me an elevated level of grit and hard work,” Salz says. “I learned those values from my community and family.”

When Salz graduated high school, medical school wasn’t on his radar.  

“I didn’t even think I was capable of doing it because of the long schooling and not being able to earn stable income during that schooling,” he says. “But I knew I wanted to do something that gave me tremendous purpose and fulfillment.”

He attended a community college near his hometown and quickly realized that he had a passion for his biology and chemistry courses.

"When I flipped that switch and started to apply myself in the classroom in college, I was pretty surprised at how much I enjoyed it," Salz says. "The reason I've improved so much at school is because I worked very, very hard to get there."

Salz started volunteering at a local hospital and credits this as a turning point in his decision to pursue medicine. He began to see medicine as a way he could make an important contribution in his rural Iowa community.

"I began to see a lot of disparities between rural and urban health care,” Salz says. "Seeing what health care workers were doing to serve others, I knew that I wanted to pursue something that gave me purpose, gave me responsibility, and allowed me to create a lasting impact."

Salz went on to attend the University of Iowa and earn a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry and molecular biology. The UI Carver College of Medicine was his top choice for medical school.

"Iowa just feels like home to me,” Salz says. “I talked to medical students at the time when I was applying, and they all said fantastic things about the faculty here and the opportunities to pursue your interests and passions.”

As a member of the Carver Rural Iowa Scholars Program (CRISP), Salz is confident in his path to pursue rural medicine and looks forward to the clinical rotations in rural settings, his future capstone project, and learning effective ways to help with the complex problems that come with health care in a rural area.  

Salz wants to become a resource for his future community, whether that's in his hometown or another small town in Iowa.

"When I think of the physician I want to be, I imagine someone who can sit down with their patients, connect with them, and earn their trust. I want to be the physician who can help them solve problems but also give them good advice to help them make their own decisions," Salz says.  

His vision for the future is rooted in the same values that shaped him in Saint Ansgar: hard work, humility, and a commitment to showing up for others. As he begins medical school, he carries those lessons with him on his path to becoming a physician for rural Iowa communities like the one that raised him.