"The Only Doctor," a documentary film by Ohio State graduate Matthew Hashiguchi ’07, examines rural healthcare in the United States through the eyes of Dr. Karen Kinsell, the lone physician serving a population of 2,800 people in Clay County, Georgia.

For helping to highlight these underserved communities, Hashiguchi and the team behind “The Only Doctor” were recognized with a Peabody Award for Public Service and honored at the 85th Annual Peabody Awards in Los Angeles on June 1.

“To me, I'm still that person who is just hoping to get a grant or get into a film festival, so to be honored with something like a Peabody, it's still kind of surreal,” Hashiguchi, who served as director, cinematographer and editor for the film, said.

"The Lantern is where I learned to tell stories and how to work in a storytelling environment."

The film follows Kinsell – a full-time volunteer for nearly 20 years – through her day-to-day life as a physician, including an in-depth look at her appointments with patients, as she considers a partnership with a local medical university to help keep her clinic open while balancing what is best for her community.

Kinsell’s connection with her patients goes beyond that of a standard doctor-patient relationship, with Kinsell doing whatever she can to ensure healthcare access for those she sees not only as patients, but as neighbors.

“I think that the unique thing of Dr. Kinsell is that her priority is health care, and her priority is making sure that her patients live and find the help that they need,” Hashiguchi said. “She goes beyond what many doctors are willing to do in our country. Dr. Kinsell does that because she wants that patient to get the help they need.”

The shortage of physicians is already felt in rural areas like those that Kinsell serves, and the problem is only expected to worsen in the coming years. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the United States could face a shortage of up to 86,000 physicians by 2036.

“This isn't just a Georgia rural problem,” Hashiguchi said. “This is a United States rural problem, that is, experiencing a shortage of hospitals. Hospital closings are happening all over the country.”

Production took place on this documentary from early 2019 through 2021, with Hashiguchi – who was at the time preparing alongside his wife for their first child – originally exploring a project about healthcare and having a child.

But after reading an interview with Kinsell on the problems facing rural health, Hashiguchi instead decided to focus on Kinsell and her clinic, and was allowed full access to explore the challenges facing rural healthcare.

“She's a very headstrong person who has strong principles, and I just really appreciated her willingness to speak up for what she believes in,” he said. “I just saw a really, really powerful story, a very important story, and people who are willing to have their story told.”

Hashiguchi got his bachelor’s degree from Ohio State, taking art and journalism courses as part of a personalized study program. He also received his MFA from Emerson College in Boston, and is a professor in multimedia and film production at Georgia Southern University.

He credits his experience at The Lantern, Ohio State’s student-run newspaper, with helping prepare him for his career as a documentary filmmaker.

"I was an assistant photo editor, and that's where I learned how to work in the field," he said. "That's where I learned how to talk to people. That's where I learned how to insert myself into situations that were intense or required some finesse. The Lantern is where I learned to tell stories and how to work in a storytelling environment."

Since the documentary premiered in 2023 and has been featured on PBS’s “Reel South,” Hashiguchi and Kinsell have kept in touch and see each other at screenings. While the last few years have been a whirlwind as the pair have highlighted the lack of rural healthcare in the United States, Kinsell is still focused on helping her community.

“She's an activist with a medical degree,” Hashiguchi said. “Right now, she's buying up old properties in Clay County and rehabbing them and making them available to low-income and homeless people in the region. She is still devoting her life to public service, to social work, providing for people that don't have employment or health insurance.”