ECU students chosen for family medicine scholars program
Five East Carolina University medical students have been selected to participate in a program aimed at mentoring students who aspire to be family physicians.
The ECU students chosen to participate in the year’s Family Medicine Interest and Scholars program are Joshua Carpenter of Ellenboro, Emily Dell of Raleigh, Katy Kirk of Raleigh, M. Adele Moser of Cary and Emily Ross of Raleigh. A total of 12 students from ECU, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Wake Forest University are participating.
Entering its second year, the Family Medicine Interest and Scholars Program is a program of the North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians Foundation and is made possible by a $1.18 million Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation grant.
The program pairs North Carolina medical students with physician mentors who work with students for three consecutive years to strengthen skills, offer guidance, help fast-track their primary care training and experience and if the students ultimately enter a family residency program, they receive scholarship funding.
Physician mentors who are participating are Mott P. Blair IV of Wallace (Wallace Family Medicine), Marianna T. Daly of Marshall (Hot Springs Health Program), Jonathan E. Fischer of Carrboro (Carrboro Community Health Center), Travis W. Howell of Winston Salem (Salem Family Practice), Thomas L. Jeffries of Raleigh (North Raleigh Family Medicine), Thomas F. Koinis of Oxford (Oxford Family Physicians), Zane I. Lapinskes of Benson (Benson Area Medical Center), Jesse C. Pittard of Smithfield (Horizon Family Medicine), Karen L. Smith of Raeford (Karen L. Smith, MD, PA), Jessica L. Triche of Washington (Washington Family Medicine Center), Matthew M. Williams of Wilmington (Wilmington Health Associates) and Benjamin L. Wilson of Lexington (Lexington Family Physicians).
Participating students also receive additional exposure to family medicine throughout their schooling, including additional clinical experiences. Students in the first class of selected scholars are now entering their third year of medical school, have already created bonds with their master preceptors and will continue to build those relationships through their clinical rotations.
This innovative program aims to increase the percentage of medical students who commit to a residency in family medicine by approximately 30 percent and to increase the percentage of those who elect to stay in the state for their residency training from 56 percent in 2008 to at least two-thirds over the length of the six-year program.
Last year, five ECU students participated in the program’s inaugural year.
The BCBSNC Foundation is a separate, independent, nonprofit foundation dedicated to improving the health and well-being of North Carolinians.
The North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians Foundation is the charitable arm of the N.C. Academy of Family Physicians. The NCAFP and its foundation will invest $600,000 through the life of this project.