Supply native awarded prestigious ECU medical school scholarship
Amber Fulford Priester, of Supply, was one of three incoming medical students at ECU’s Brody School of Medicine to be awarded the university’s most prestigious scholarship. (Photo courtesy of ECU)
Amber Fulford Priester, a first-generation college graduate from Supply, was one of three incoming medical students at ECU’s Brody School of Medicine to be awarded the university’s most prestigious scholarship.
Priester was chosen for the Class of 2022 Brody Scholar award – valued at approximately $112,000 – which includes four years of medical school tuition, living expenses and the opportunity to design her own summer enrichment program that can include travel abroad. The award will also support community service projects she may undertake while in medical school.
The West Brunswick High School graduate recently received bachelor’s degrees in biology and anthropology and a minor in chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
While pursuing her undergraduate degrees, Priester – the daughter of Adam and Crystal Fulford, also of Supply – volunteered in UNC Medical Center’s Pediatric Playroom and was the treasurer of Carolina Pediatric Attention Love and Support (CPALS), an organization that provides supportive relationships for pediatric patients and their families. She also took part in a host of other activities, including volunteering in a Brunswick County emergency department and serving as a research assistant in the UNC Division of Cardiology.
Priester graduated Phi Beta Kappa with highest distinction and was an honors laureate, as well as a graduate of the Buckley Public Service Scholars Program.
Attending medical school is something Priester said she’s wanted to do for as long as she can remember.
“Every encounter I have had, good or bad, has just reaffirmed my desire to go into medicine,” she said. “The older I have gotten, the more I have realized that medicine gives me the science that I love, while still allowing me to fulfill the face-to-face contact with other people and the life of service that I desire.”
Priester said she is leaning toward a career in pediatrics and is interested in learning more about how geographic location influences a person’s access to quality health care.
Upon becoming a physician, she plans to focus on serving eastern North Carolinians.
“Coming from southeastern North Carolina myself, I feel passionately about bridging the gap in health care across the state,” Priester said. “Being a Brody Scholar is a reminder of how much the state of North Carolina has invested in me over the years, and it strengthens my desire to give back to my home state in the best way that I can.”
Since the program began in 1983, 140 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.
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