Student visits Campbell in high school; enrolls in med school years later

Student Dr. Khalia Solaita remembers finding the photo. She remembers showing the picture, years since it was taken, to a member of the faculty at Campbell University medical school.

Solaita was then a student at Pine Forest High School in Fayetteville. She and a group of fellow students were visiting the med school for HUMP Day - Helping Students Understand the Medical Profession - an annual event allowing high school students to learn from current medical students and faculty, through demonstrations, hands-on and interactive experiences.

In the photo from way back when she is posing with Gaylord, the university mascot, who wore his own white coat for the HUMP Day event, an initiative under the large umbrella of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA).

HUMP Day was created to give students from historically underrepresented backgrounds early exposure to osteopathic medicine and help them see that a career as a physician is within reach, said Dr. Tiffany Lowe Clayton, vice chair of Family Medicine and assistant professor at the med school.

"For many students, that first experience being exposed to medical students is the moment they begin to believe it's even possible," Lowe Clayton said.

Solaita says, "I wasn't even thinking about medical school. I didn't really know what I wanted to do."

She does now.

Solaita is in her second year at the Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine, on her way toward becoming a doctor of osteopathic medicine. She is set to graduate in 2029.

But on her birthday, Feb. 21 of this year, she was back at HUMP Day, though that wasn't necessarily in her plans. Solaita thought she would spend the day celebrating with family and friends, but a med student who couldn't make the event asked her if she could fill in. At the proverbial last minute.

Lacey-Ann Reynolds, SNMA president, made the request.

"As the person who asked Khalia to fill in at the last minute, I didn't expect this to be such a cool, full-circle moment for her," Reynolds said. "It is so cool and real to see that this wasn't what she chose at first but she gladly ended up here. Shows how truly momental this moment is, and that it is truly a calling. I'm super excited to see what more is in store for my friend."

The HUMP Day opportunity this year gave Solaita the chance to show the photo to Lowe Clayton, the SNMA adviser at CUSOM.

"It's been incredibly rewarding to watch that vision come full circle," Lowe Clayton says. "Seeing Kahlia return to the very school where she first imagined becoming a doctor, now as student Dr. Solaita, is both humbling and inspiring. Knowing that she'll soon achieve that dream is a reminder that every hour invested in HUMP Day is worth it.

"I look forward to watching her continue to thrive and to seeing many more students discover their own path to osteopathic medicine because of this program."

Solaita studied neuroscience at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and - leaning on the love, encouragement and guidance from her mother - enrolled in the Master of Science in Biomedical Science (MSBS) program at Campbell. She calls it "the best educational decision of my life."

Solaita said, "I'm not very religious, but … I definitely believe things happen for a reason."

Her path to medical school was clear.

As a teenager traveling with a technology club she joined at Pine Forest, Solaita remembers visiting the SIM lab, fascinated by a medical manikin set up to simulate childbirth.

She remembers, for the first time, hearing about osteopathic medicine.

Solaita admits she doesn't remember much more about the visit, or even the year in which she visited. Maybe sometime around eighth or ninth grade, as part of an early college program at the high school.

No matter.

Mom continued to encourage her daughter and advised her to go for a bachelor of science degree as an undergrad. It would be good, her mother said, if she built a better foundation of learning, should she choose to pursue a career in medicine or something else in healthcare.

Solaita changed her major from Cognitive Neuroscience, a bachelor of arts degree, to a new B.S. track at George Washington - Neuroscience.

"I really loved it," Solaita said.

By the third year of college Solaita knew she would pursue medicine, but she also realized her grades may not be good enough to get into medical school. She and her mother helped investigate graduate programs that might better prepare her to become a physician, should Solaita eventually decide to chase that goal.

They learned how the MSBS program at Campbell could be that bridge. They talked about how they would cross it together.

Solaita says her mom is "everything" to her.

"She was like, whatever you want to do, we're gonna take the steps to get you to where you want to be, and the master's program was the best educational decision of my life, because it made me realize that I'm good at this, I can handle this," Solaita said.

Solaita found herself at a place that, over the years leading up to enrolling, she rarely considered.

"I didn't even think of this being in my future, but I just feel like everything that I've been through up until now has led me here, that this is meant for me."

Solaita excelled in the master's program, and she also took time to explore her passion for dancing as a member of the university Dance Team. She graduated in May 2025.

"And then I applied (to med school), because I loved it here. I loved the people here. I loved the faculty here, and, and now that I'm here, I'm like, 'Wow,'" says Solaita, who has a twin brother attending Rutgers University.

In fact, Solaita sent just one application.

"I don't recommend this. … but I only applied to Campbell for medical school because I just knew I wanted to come here."

Solaita praised the CUSOM faculty, talked about taking mission trips with the Community Care Clinic, about learning Spanish, about practicing effective study habits, about taking care of herself.

"It's been great," she says. "It's definitely been an adjustment, because the material is very intense, and even though I knew a lot of the professors before, there's a lot of professors that I hadn't met yet or experienced in the master's program. But (the first year), I can honestly say, has been better than I could have imagined."

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