N.C. trio awarded ECU’s most prestigious scholarship

(From left to right) Grant O’Brien, Kayla Mayes and Brandon Garcia were the three first-year medical students at ECU’s Brody School of Medicine to be awarded the Class of 2023 Brody Scholar award. (Photo courtesy of ECU)

Three medical students at ECU’s Brody School of Medicine have been awarded the university’s most prestigious scholarship.

Brandon Garcia, Kayla Mayes and Grant O’Brien – who like their classmates are all North Carolina residents – have been chosen for the Class of 2023 Brody Scholar award, valued at approximately $115,000.

Each student will receive four years of medical school tuition, living expenses and the opportunity to design his or her 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.

Since the program began in 1983, more than 140 students have received scholarships. About 75 percent of Brody Scholars remain in North Carolina to practice, and the majority of those stay in eastern North Carolina.

Garcia, of Greensboro, graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in biology and minor degrees in chemistry and Spanish.

He said he realized his calling to medicine following experiences with family and time he spent in Peru with Hands on Peru. The international nonprofit organization is committed to improving access to medical care and quality education for disempowered and marginalized populations in Trujillo, Peru, and its surrounding areas.

“I recognized the necessity and void of physicians for the underserved,”  Garcia said. In addition to gaining the skills and knowledge necessary to be a great physician, Garcia said he wants to get involved in the community while in medical school to help build relationships and be able to “provide proficient and wholesome care for the patients of eastern North Carolina.”

O’Brien graduated from Duke University in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience. He then worked as a high school math teacher in Warren County for two years before beginning his medical education at Brody.

The Concord native said he was inspired as a child to pursue a career in medicine after witnessing the impact his father, a pediatrician, had in their diverse community.

“I loved how health care provided unique and meaningful opportunities to meet and make a difference for people of all walks of life while also satisfying my curiosity in science,” O’Brien said.

O’Brien added that he felt “incredibly humbled and grateful” to be selected as a Brody Scholar and was inspired by the Brody Scholar physicians he met during the interview process.

“It felt like they possessed a genuine sense of purpose and motivation to make a difference in their communities, and I am excited to learn from them and follow in their footsteps,” he said.

Mayes is a Winston-Salem native who graduated from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in biology.

She said her interest in medicine was sparked early in her childhood due to poor health outcomes in her family, as well as by her own medical history.

“I have developed a strong interest in primary care from witnessing the burden of my family’s care costs, being confided in by my patients as a nurse assistant, and observing challenges faced while developing appropriate care plans based on patient financial ability,” she said.

Mayes said she hopes to utilize her platform as a physician to advocate for her patients, act as a servant leader in her community and mentor aspiring future physicians.

“As a Brody Scholar, I plan to use this gift to pay it forward to those who will come after me and the community I will serve now as a medical student and later as a physician,” she said.

The Brody Scholars program honors J. S. “Sammy” Brody, who, along with his brother Leo, were among the earliest supporters of medical education in eastern North Carolina.

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