From a young age, Dana Vietti envisioned herself in medicine. Like many children, her dreams shifted with time — first to marine biology, then to teaching, and eventually to global service. What remained constant, however, was her drive to explore, to grow, and to make an impact wherever life took her.
After graduating from Parsons High School in 1989, Vietti began her studies in biology at Kansas State University. The transition was difficult: her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, and the weight of personal challenges impacted her academics. “I just thought, ‘Well, biology is not for me,’” she recalls. “But really, I wasn’t good at coping at the time.”
She regrouped at Labette Community College, earning an associate degree in psychology. With her mother cancer free, she then transferred to Pittsburg State University where she pursued English education. Her love for literature led her to a master’s degree at the University of Akron, where she discovered her passion for teaching at the college level. But just as she was building a foundation, an unexpected opportunity arose: the Peace Corps.
Vietti spent more than two years teaching English in Morocco’s Sahara Desert.
“It was the most amazing experience,” she said.
Living in a remote village, immersed in Arabic, she learned resilience and adaptability. The people’s generosity left an impression: “You couldn’t say, ‘I like that picture on your wall,’ or they would take it down and give it to you. Just the most hospitable people I’ve ever met.”
(In the above photo, Vietti sits with a family she grew close to in the village she stayed in in Morocco. Behind them is a wall used for elections. They put up pictures and information about all the candidates for everyone to look at before they vote.)
The village was only about eight blocks in any direction, but because tourism is Morocco's largest industry, and so many tourists come to the Sahara, they put a tourism school there. While small, you could hear a world of languages spoken there, and the juxtaposition of cultures was both interesting and educational for a girl from rural Kansas.
Returning mid-semester to Kansas, Vietti was not afforded the opportunity to apply to a teaching position, and instead directed Big Brothers Big Sisters at Butler Community College for a couple of years while considering her next step. However, rather than a planned move, her path shifted again quite unexpectedly when she was at a football game with her father, a Vietnam veteran. Hearing the National Anthem for the first time after years abroad moved her deeply. She looked at her father and saw a tear begin to well there, too.
“I thought, ‘You know what, I’m going to join the Army,’” she said.
Vietti enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves. In 2002, ready to escape Small Town U.S.A., she moved to Kansas City and took the first job she could find, which was in human resources for Papa John's Pizza.
“I ended up staying there full time or part-time for about 8 years, which turned out to be a good thing because I met a man while I was working there named Pete Nagurny. We met in 2000 and in 2019 we got married,” she said.
She deployed to Iraq in 2004. There, her work went beyond transportation logistics — she trained Iraqi soldiers in basic medical care, splinting, and IV placement.
(In the above photo, Vietti sits before a sign for Camp Fallujah where she and her friend Dan Cifelli were teaching Iraqi soldiers combat life saving classes.).
The experience reignited her original childhood dream of being a doctor. Her close friend, Dr. Tammy Crouse asked, “Have you thought about medical school?” Her answer was immediate: yes. She felt like, “If I can do this, I can do about anything.”
Vietti called to talk to her mom to ask her thoughts.
“We’ve been waiting for you to figure out this is where you were going the whole time,” her mom told her.
Supported by her family and employer, she returned to the classroom, completed her prerequisites, and earned admission to the University of Kansas School of Medicine. She pursued a dual specialty in internal medicine and pediatrics, thriving in the variety and challenge of each.
“I was always excited at the end of medicine to go back to pediatrics, and at the end of pediatrics to go back to medicine. There were just so many appealing things about both,” she said. She did two years of pediatrics residency and two years of internal medicine residency at University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo. She went back into the military during her residency and did four years as a reservist in the medical corps, and then resigned her commission upon completion of her residency.
Following completion of Dr. Vietti’s residency, Dr. Crouse recruited her to first work for St. Luke's in Kansas City, then Mosaic Life Care in St. Joseph, Mo., which is where she continues to work today.
“I love it up there,” Vietti said, sharing how the facility has a cap on the number of patients she is required to see, allowing her time to devote the individualized care to her patients that they need.
Today, Dr. Vietti serves patients by combining expertise, compassion, and the resilience built across every chapter of her life — from classrooms in Ohio, to villages in Morocco, to the sands of Iraq.
For students in Parsons, her story is a reminder that paths may twist and turn, but with perseverance, openness and heart, the destination can be greater than imagined.
When asked what advice she would share, her answer reflects her own journey: “Be open to experiences. On the micro level, medical schools — and life — are looking for people with broad-based experiences. I’ve always said I just want to do everything there is to do before I die. Every experience shapes you, and prepares you, in ways you don’t always see at the time.”