Molly Benedum, MD, is a board-certified family physician and founding program director of the MAHEC Rural Family Medicine Residency Program in Boone. Molly is passionate about teaching the next generation of excellent primary care physicians to serve the Carolinas (especially rural and underserved communities) and has won several teaching awards during her career. Her research and teaching interests include wellness and burnout in the clinical learning environment, competency-based medical education and feedback, and faculty development. In her (very minimal) spare time, she enjoys hiking and playing with her husband Joe, children Albert and Frannie, and rescue pup Agnes.

David Brendle, DO, earned his undergraduate degree in business administration from the UNC Charlotte where he also ran cross country and track. It was in college that he became more interested in health and wellness. This led David to Appalachian State University where he earned a masters in exercise science. Eventually, he made his way to Baltimore, where he worked for the Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center at the University of Maryland. Much of the research he was involved in pertained to managing comorbidities with diet, exercise, and other lifestyle modifications. David's work there solidified his interest in pursuing a career in medicine. He decided to attend the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine because he identified with the tenets of osteopathic medicine that include treating the person, not the disease, and the understanding the body is a unit of mind, body, and spirit.

After medical school, Dr. Brendle returned to Charlotte to be closer to friends and family and to attend Carolinas Medical Center for his family medicine residency, which is where he met his wife Torre Hinnant, MD. After completing their residency, David and Torre moved to Lenoir and practiced both inpatient and outpatient medicine before moving to Boone in 2016.

Dr. Brendle's medical interests include sports medicine, osteopathic manipulation, and in-office procedures as well as managing chronic conditions. He loves working with premed and medical students and looks forward to working with MAHEC family medicine residents. Outside of the office, David enjoys outdoor activities including road biking, mountain biking, cyclocross, climbing, running, hiking, and skiing. He's also trying to improve his yoga practice—stay tuned!

Hello! My name is Connor Brunson. I have spent my life in a slow loop starting in Bluff City, Tennessee, stretching down to Columbia, South Carolina, back up through Greenville, and now, thankfully, landing in Boone.

I started my career studying Public Health and Anthropology at the University of South Carolina. Upon graduation, I worked as a bagel baker, a nude art model, a middle school teacher, an EMT, and as an advocate for the creative sphere and an organizer of inclusive community spaces. Living and learning in South Carolina helped me reach a more complete understanding of racial and economic inequality, particularly in medicine, and I eventually realized that small communities, like my hometown, have a large part to play in righting the wrongs of our society.

My creative work (songwriting, short fiction, poetry) as well as my philosophic wanderings (Taoism, Stoicism, Narrative Medicine) led me to understand the tangible power of emotional healing and mindfulness. I believe that modern rural America is in great need of gentle, compassionate, full-person care, and I think that family physicians are in a unique position to provide that care. I am proud to be part of the process.

Charles Baker, MD, has been a full-scope family physician for more than 40 years, delivering more than 2,000 babies in the High Country of Avery County.

He earned his undergraduate degree at Davidson College and then attended medical school at UNC Chapel Hill. Dr. Baker interrupted his residency training for three years, spending two on the Sioux Indian reservation in Pine Ridge, South Dakota and another year in an inner-city clinic in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Those three years earned him the distinction of being the last of the “grandfathers” - fully certified family physicians who had not finished their residency. Dr. Baker completed his residency in pediatrics at Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital in 1979 and then opened a solo practice in the High Hountry where he was double-boarded in pediatrics and family practice. He and his wife Ann raised their three children here and helped them launch careers all over the world in veterinary medicine, international development, and counseling.

Dr. Baker loves mentoring medical students, and teaching has been a meaningful part of his career. His Linville practice has been a full-time teaching site for UNC medical students for more than 30 years and is one of only five sites in North Carolina designated as a gold teaching practice. He has trained students during all four years of their medical school experience and has precepted MAHEC residents for many years. Dr. Baker is thrilled to support the new MAHEC Rural Family Medicine Residency in Boone as he moves into retirement from private practice. He looks forward to teaching residents the importance of delivering “hands on” care and remembering to stop and smell the roses.

I am a dedicated family medicine physician eager to serve the High Country community. My wife, a local pharmacist, and I moved to Boone after I completed my residency in 2024. From the beginning of medical training, I felt a strong calling to provide primary care in rural, underserved parts of North Carolina. My journey included a Family Medicine fast track with a focus on rural healthcare, which brought me to Western North Carolina for specialized training.

Now, I am thrilled to provide comprehensive patient care through outpatient primary care, inpatient hospital medicine, and obstetrics. I have also joined Boone’s expanding rural family medicine residency program as a faculty member. My particular medical interests include addiction medicine, hepatitis C treatment, and group prenatal care. Beyond my medical practice, my Christian faith guides daily life, marriage, and compassionate approach to patient care and community relationships. In free time, you may find me on the pickleball court or cheering on my favorite college sports teams, the Tennessee Vols and UNC Tar Heels

Hey, its Brett! I’m thrilled to call the High Country home. I grew up in Georgia and went to medical school at the UGA Medical Partnership in Athens, GA. After that, I headed west to Cascades East Family Medicine to learn how to be a rural family medicine doc. Over the years, I’ve worked in a variety of settings, but some of my most meaningful time was spent as the only doctor in a small critical access ER in the North Georgia mountains.

I’m passionate about training students and residents in all aspects of rural family medicine. I especially love teaching point-of-care ultrasound, procedures, and how to adapt to low-resource settings—skills that make a big difference when you’re practicing far from large medical centers.

When I’m not seeing patients or teaching, you’ll probably find me outside with my family, on a bike of any kind, snowboarding in the winter, or picking tunes on my mandolin.

Welcome to Boone! My name is Caleb Smith and I am a western NC native. I grew up on a tobacco farm and am excited to be training awesome rural docs to serve communities like the one I grew up in. I enjoy teaching outpatient and inpatient/critical care procedures, point of care ultrasound, and maternal child health along with the many other topics that make awesome full scope family medicine doctors. When I am not practicing medicine, I am enjoying all the wonderful hiking and running trails that Boone has to offer. You can usually find me, my wife, son, and dog all on a trail off the Blue Ridge Parkway on the weekends or even a weekday night (perks of living in Boone!) I’m looking forward to learning how to ski and taking advantage of all the awesome winter sports Boone offers.  Please reach out if you want to learn more about this awesome area and the training we can provide!