Alumni Spotlight: Dr. Jesse Dewey, DO
When Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine – Utah (RVUCOM-UT) alum Jesse Dewey, DO ‘21, thinks back to his time as a medical student, he remembers feeling empowered and encouraged.
He remembers believing the sky was the limit for his future as a physician, thanks to the encouragement and support from the faculty and staff at Rocky Vista University – Utah (RVU-UT). Dr. Dewey was part of RVU-UT’s inaugural DO class and is now a board-certified dermatologist at Central Utah Dermatology in St. George, Utah.
With fewer than 1,000 dermatology residency spots available in the United States, the specialty is among the hardest to match into, underscoring that the sky truly was the limit for him. Dr. Dewey matched into Campbell University’s dermatology residency in Wilmington, North Carolina and returned to Utah to serve the community.
“I’ll never know what it was like going to a different school, but I genuinely believe that I would not be where I’m at if I had gone to any other medical school,” Dr. Dewey said.
A Future in Dermatology
Dr. Dewey didn’t always have dermatology in his sights. During his first semester at RVU-UT, he attended presentations to learn more about various clinical specialties. He was initially interested in anesthesiology, but after attending talks on the specialty, he decided it wasn’t the right fit for him. He needed to reflect on what mattered to him as a future physician.
Over time, he realized that he valued building relationships with patients in an outpatient setting and decided that dermatology was the obvious choice for him. Now, he enjoys working with patients who are just as invested in their skin health as he is.
“It is hard to care about something that you don’t see or notice, like high blood pressure or elevated cholesterol,” he said. “But people are extremely motivated to get better when they have an itchy rash that keeps them awake at night.”
The Sky’s the Limit
Looking back, Dr. Dewey feels like the faculty and staff at RVU-UT were truly invested in helping students become great doctors, and that there was flexibility at a new campus where the “ceilings” hadn’t been set. Faculty and staff supported his goals by giving him the freedom to pursue two dermatology elective clinical rotations and 12 dermatology audition rotations, or interviews where a student “auditions” for a residency position. This was an important step in increasing his odds of landing in a dermatology residency position.
“I remember thinking this in medical school. There was nobody there to tell me I couldn’t do something because nobody had done it before,” he said.
Attending RVU for medical school wasn’t initially Dr. Dewey’s first choice. He had already been accepted to another school but decided to take the leap and learn more about RVU. He fell in love with Ivins, Utah and the campus, taking to heart RVU’s encouragement to blaze his own path rather than follow the status quo.
“I didn’t know how much it meant to me at the time, but now there is a huge sense of pride knowing that I took a chance on something that was unknown to me,” he said.
After completing his residency, Dr. Dewey knew that he’d come back to Utah and take care of the community he fell in love with.
He grew up in Ohio and made his way to Utah to attend undergraduate school and RVU-UT. It had everything he valued: nature, activities, and, most importantly, great people.
“For residency, I had no choice but to move out of state,” he said. “But when it came to choosing where I wanted to practice medicine, there wasn’t a second thought that Utah was going to be that place.”
Encouraging Future Doctors
Dr. Dewey wants to help RVU students believe in themselves, too.
After completing residency training and being hired at Central Utah Dermatology in August 2025, he was eager to give back to RVU students.
He now serves as a clinical rotations preceptor to RVUCOM-UT students, a role that allows him to help students gain more hands-on clinical experience during their third and fourth years of medical school.
Most recently, he volunteered to serve as a supervising physician at a free skin cancer screening clinic on April 18, led by RVU osteopathic medicine students. Adrian Tinajero, DO, owner of Central Utah Dermatology, also serves as an RVU preceptor and volunteered as a supervising physician.
The clinic was held at Central Utah Dermatology in St. George, where 14 OMS-I and OMS-II RVUCOM-UT students performed free skin checks on members of the community, said Brehyn Evans, OMS-II and outgoing vice president of the dermatology chapter of the RVU-UT ROAD Club. While this was the fourth annual student-led free skin cancer screening clinic, this was the first time it was hosted at a local dermatology practice.
During the clinic, two students would perform a skin check on a patient and then present their findings to one of the supervising dermatologists. The physician would then conduct their own skin check and, if a suspicious mole or lesion was found, recommend that the patient follow up with a dermatologist for further medical evaluation.
“People left with smiles on their faces, whereas they might have been a little nervous going in,” Evans said. “But they took that brave step forward of coming in the first place and leaving with a lot of relief in most cases.”
Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States, according to the American Academy of Dermatology, so Dr. Dewey recommends that everyone should get skin checks regularly. Early detection can improve treatment outcomes, he said.
Building Connections
While OMS-I and OMS-II students at RVU see simulated standardized patients to gain hands-on clinical experience early on in their schooling, Dr. Dewey emphasized the importance of allowing students to independently screen patients and build on that experience during the clinic.
In total, students performed skin checks on 39 patients.
“I was really impressed with how they handled themselves, how they saw patients,” Dr. Dewey said. “So yeah, it made me feel like Rocky Vista [University] is really doing a good job at teaching the students that they have now.”
Evans enjoyed working with an RVU alum one-on-one. Dr. Dewey was a great mentor, exhibiting patience with a focus on educating both students and patients.
“Dr. Dewey was wonderful,” Evans said. “As soon as we got there, he just made us feel very welcome.”
Being an RVUCOM-UT alum allows Dr. Dewey to better connect with current osteopathic medicine students. He often talks with students about the curriculum, faculty, and staff, and being able to share similar life experiences makes mentorship much more meaningful.
“Who better to connect with RVU students than RVU alumni?” Dr. Dewey said.
Learn more on RVU’s website about getting involved and becoming a preceptor or participating in the RVU Alumni Association.