LIVING LEGACIES

Three medical students earn top scholarship

Three medical students at East Carolina University’s Brody School of Medicine have been awarded the most prestigious scholarship available at the university.

Bryan Morales, Chantel Morey and Katherine Mulligan have been chosen for the Class of 2020 Brody Scholar award, valued at approximately $112,000. Each will receive four years of medical school tuition, living expenses and the opportunity to design their own summer enrichment program that can include travel abroad. The award will also support community service projects the students may undertake while in medical school.

Mark Notestine, president of the ECU Medical & Health Sciences Foundation, said, “Each year the Brody Scholars are selected from an incredibly talented group of 80 incoming medical students. These students were selected based on their outstanding academic accomplishments, but also because of their demonstrated leadership, community service, research experiences and dedication to the future of medicine – and to the people of North Carolina.”

Since the program began in 1983, 134 students have received scholarships. About 70 percent of Brody Scholars remain in North Carolina to practice, and the majority of those stay in eastern North Carolina.

Bryan Morales

The son of a U.S. Marine, Morales was born in Hawaii and grew up on numerous military bases throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Prior to earning a biology degree from Methodist University in Fayetteville in 2012, Morales spent seven years in military service as an infantryman and then an airborne medic. He completed a tour in Iraq and was honorably discharged while stationed at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville.

While in college, Morales researched a potential treatment for memory-related conditions associated with post-traumatic stress disorder, and he volunteered to educate local veterans about how to use their electronic health records to make more informed health care decisions. He’s interested in psychiatry, internal medicine and the “gut-brain connection between mental illness and disease,” and is committed to working with the military community in some capacity during his career as a physician.

Regarding his goals for medical school Morales said, “I am very excited to work in collaborative and cohesive teams seeking to serve the underserved, rural and Latino communities in North Carolina.

“Being a Brody Scholar means that it is now my duty to exert all of my ability and strength in giving back in the same way my family, friends, communities, and the Brody family have given to me,” he said. “Knowing that there are so many people in this world hanging by a thread, this honor drives home and facilitates the passion in me to seek out those in need and to act on that need in humble service.”

Chantel Morey

Morey, who hails from Detroit, is a 2012 graduate of Duke University. Although she’s sought a career in health care since she was young, her interest in how environmental and other factors outside direct patient care can influence health led her to employment with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“While I enjoyed my CDC experience,” Morey said, “I desired more individualized interaction with patients. And I believe that a community-centered medical education from Brody is the first step to becoming a primary care doctor and combining my interests in public health and medicine.”

Morey, who holds a degree in psychology, is passionate about community health and integrating cultural, societal and environmental conditions with medical treatments.

“I want to learn extensively about the history, culture and current health climate in the eastern North Carolina region and acquire the skills and knowledge to provide proficient care for patients in this area,” she said.

Morey said the Brody scholarship will allow her to pursue her desire to work in primary care treating patients in underserved communities without the burden of debt repayment influencing her specialty choice.

Katherine Mulligan

Mulligan recently graduated with a biology degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As a Buckley Public Service Scholar there, the Hillsborough native completed hundreds of hours of public service and a variety of service learning requirements. She also served as co-president of the university’s Undergraduate Family Medicine Interest Group, the first of its kind in the nation.

Mulligan knew she wanted a career in medicine when she was hospitalized as a teenager for extreme hypertension and subsequently diagnosed with two serious chronic medical conditions. “While spending time as a patient in the pediatric intensive care unit and pediatric hospital, I was filled with a wonder for medicine,” she said. “I saw my friends and fellow pediatric patients recover from brain surgery and automobile accident injuries, and I watched as doctors worked to heal not only these physical ailments, but also rejuvenate our hopes and spirits.”

During her time at Brody, Mulligan hopes to participate in a variety of community outreach efforts, with an emphasis on the Hispanic population so she can refine her medical Spanish skills. “I am passionate about sustainable public service efforts, social justice and accountability issues, and health care disparities,” she said.

She’s interested in primary care, particularly family medicine, because “it encompasses continuity of patient care and preventative measures, and calls on physicians to form a complete picture of a patient’s health, to predict and address problems before they arise, and to maintain a strong public health conscience.”

Mulligan said that while the alleviation of her financial burden for medical school is “beyond incredible,” what she finds most meaningful about being a Brody Scholar is the opportunity to carry on the Brody family’s legacy of service to the people of eastern North Carolina.

“The unwavering commitment and tireless dedication with which the Brody family serves North Carolinians is unparalleled and inspirational,” she said. “North Carolinians are truly my people – they have supported my public education since elementary school, have been my teachers, coaches, doctors, nurses, bus drivers, postal workers, and so much more; it’s now time for me to follow in the Brody family’s footsteps and give back to the people who have given me everything.”

In its 34th year, the Brody Scholars program honors J.S. “Sammy” Brody. He and his brother, Leo, were among the earliest supporters of medical education in eastern North Carolina. The legacy continues through the dedicated efforts of Hyman Brody of Greenville and David Brody of Kinston. Subsequent gifts from the Brody family have enabled the medical school to educate new physicians, conduct important research and improve health care in eastern North Carolina.

The newest Brody Scholars recite the Medical Student Pledge of Ethics with their classmates during the medical school’s annual white coat ceremony.