The Whole Package
ECU medical student reflects on time in Honors College, medical school
Fourth-year ECU medical student Dana Shefet is on the brink of graduation and the beginning of her residency in family medicine in Virginia.
There is a photo of Dana Shefet perched high on a Himalayan mountaintop in India, peering across a valley toward the sharp peaks in the distance. Shefet is cast in a purple-tinted shadow, yet the light that splashes across the rocky terrain below her shines gold.
Another photo captures memories and traditions with relatives in Israel. Other images show Shefet, a fourth-year student in the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, hamming it up with classmates in the student lounge and in more formal settings marking milestones along her medical school journey.
These photos are part of Shefet’s adventure-packed ECU experience, from being named a Brinkley-Lane Scholar in 2017 to becoming a Brody Scholar in 2021 and now preparing to begin a residency this summer in family medicine at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Virginia.
Shefet, a Cary native, is a familiar face on both ECU’s Main and Health Sciences campuses, her signature curls and wide, genuine smile threatening to steal the show in any picture documenting her time as a Pirate. That smile comes from the confidence she arrived with — the assurance of a student guided along a path of possibilities studded with opportunities on campus and across the world.
Most of the Brinkley-Lane Scholars — students who secured the university’s most prestigious undergraduate scholarship — come to campus equipped with a sense of wonder for the future. Shefet, who began the scholarship program when it was still known as EC Scholars, was no different — yet she has proved herself to be far from average.
“She is a rare mix of dreamer and pragmatist — someone who wants to study big problems but also tackle them in real, impactful ways,” said Dr. Sheena Eagan, associate professor of bioethics and interdisciplinary studies and director of Brody’s medical humanities and ethics distinction track. “That’s how Dana approaches much of life: She doesn’t just chase opportunities; she chooses the ones that matter — the ones that fuel her passion while keeping her grounded and connected.”
A Promising Path
ECU medical student Dana Shefet visited India after her first year at the Brody School of Medicine, helping care for people in rural communities as part of the Himalayan Health Exchange. (Contributed photo)
For all that she learned in the classrooms during her undergraduate career, Shefet also discovered early on how to hone her talents that stem from a naturally diverse world view.
When she sees one person, Shefet sees the world. Her rare ability to identify and celebrate common bonds across individuals, cultures and communities not only connects minds but creates arcs across humanity.
“I’ve known I wanted to be a doctor since I was 10 years old,” Shefet said. “I always just knew that’s what I wanted to do. And it’s funny for it to come full circle, because when I applied to EC Scholars, I said that my ideal dream would be, in eight years, to be graduating from Brody as a Brody Scholar, going into family medicine. I’m living the dream that I sought out, not only since I was 10, but since I started at ECU.”
From that moment on, Shefet was intent on taking full advantage of all the opportunities the scholarship afforded her, including study abroad experiences and research exposure.
“All of my research, all of my experiences, have come up in residency interviews,” she said. “Just the opportunities, the people that I was able to meet and the vision that I had for my future as a 17-year-old coming to Greenville for the first time could have only become the vision that it has because of the scholarship and the people who invested in me and were willing to support any of my endeavors that I had throughout undergrad into medical school.”
During her undergraduate career, Shefet served as Dean for a Day, took trips to Ocracoke and Washington, D.C. as part of the ECU Scholars program, participated in the Chancellor’s Leadership Academy, attended Yale Summer Institute, led the Undergraduate Scholars Program Administrators Association’s Scholar Conference, and held internships with SECU Hope Restorations and RISE 29 Hackney Distillery during the COVID-19 pandemic, among many other activities.
These experiences helped pave the way toward a seamless transition to living part of the mission of the Brody School of Medicine — to improve the health and quality of life for eastern North Carolinians — years later.
“I was able to see through undergrad what it means to be a part of the community and actually give back to where we live, the place where we’re planted,” Shefet said. “I think a big part of it was knowing that I’d be able to get the education that I wanted through a primary care-focused school but also continue growing in the community that helped me throughout undergrad and shaped me to who I have become.”
Dr. Todd Fraley, dean of the Honors College, worked with Shefet in his capacity as an Honors College faculty fellow before becoming the director of the EC Scholars program in 2014 and associate dean of the Honors College in 2017.
“Dana has always been a pleasure to work with because she is curious, intelligent, friendly and motivated,” Fraley said. “She took advantage of and created numerous opportunities that allowed her to grow as a person and feel confident in her future goals. Dana Shefet has shown all of us what a Brinkley-Lane Scholar and Honors College experience can and should look like. We are lucky to have her as part of this community and are grateful for her continued engagement.”
Shefet has remained a familiar face for incoming Brinkley-Lane Scholars and Honors College students.
“She is continuously recognized as a leader and as someone who can be trusted due to her work ethic and ability to collaborate with others,” Fraley said. “She is a special individual, and it has been an absolute pleasure watching her grow into the person she is today. My own children consider her a role model. I value our continued conversations and love that I can now call her Dr. Shefet.”
With study abroad experiences with the British Heart Foundation in London and in Northern Ireland, and additional trips to India and Israel during medical school, Shefet says her global treks have helped center her in the place she calls home.
“I think the biggest thing that I come back to continuously is the sense of community and kind of this feeling of home,” she said. I grew up and became an adult here at Greenville. I was able to develop into who I am. And I think knowing that there were so many people rooting for me here, in a way that was felt even when I was abroad, or even when I left undergrad, or even when I left the Honors College, I was able to know that I had my support system here was very special.”
During her 2019 London internship, Shefet remembers the moment she heard about a familiar cardiac procedure, the da Vinci robot used in minimally invasive heart surgeries.
“I was able to tell them that that was actually started and kind of spearheaded at my university in Greenville, North Carolina,” she said. “I won’t forget the sense of pride I had talking to the CEO like, ‘That’s my university.’”
Medicine with a Global View
After graduating from ECU in 2021 with an undergraduate degree in public health with minors in mathematics, nutrition and natural sciences, Shefet set her sights on beginning studies at the Brody School of Medicine as a Brody Scholar. The Brody Scholars program provides full tuition and fees and most living expenses for four years of medical school, allowing scholars to choose a medical specialty without the worry of debt after graduation. The scholarship also funds summer enrichment, such as travel abroad and service projects students may undertake while in medical school.
“The minute I got the call for Brody Scholars, it felt like it was meant to be,” Shefet said. “It was absolutely a full-circle moment in so many different ways.”
Shefet began honing her interest in family medicine almost immediately, because of the ability to care for people of all ages.
“Nothing else allows me to do as full a scope and get to know families and patients as people — not just patients — like family medicine does,” she said. “I knew that I wanted to go to a school that helped me focus on primary care and allowed me to be the best family medicine doctor that I could be.”
Shefet used her experiences as a Brinkley-Lane Scholar as a jumping-off point for envisioning her medical school journey.
“I guess I knew what I wanted too much, but it also opened up opportunities for different paths I didn’t know that I’d be as interested in as I am, such as advocacy and nutrition education,” she said. “I kind of went full force and things worked out the way I had hoped.”
After her first year of medical school, Shefet went to the Spiti Valley in India for her Brody Scholars Summer Enrichment Program, as part of the Himalayan Health Exchange that gathers physicians, health care professionals and medical students to learn about culture and medicine in a remote area.
“We served in 10 different villages, around 850 patients,” Shefet said. “So being able to kind of learn primary care on the ground was a big thing for me.”
That experience, in addition to teaching nutrition classes at Head Start daycares in Pitt County and volunteering with cancer patients, supplemented Shefet’s view of the world — and eastern North Carolina — piecing together her global activities with a desire to eventually bring the skills she learns back home.
“I say this: I’ve been traveling all throughout the world. I’ve been to many countries, many different states, and I always say North Carolina is the best state to live in, and I mean that without a doubt,” she said. “Long term, I definitely see myself settling back in the state that has given me so much.”
Her family also factors in that longing. Over the years, her parents proofread applications and drove to Greenville for quick barbecue dinners during Shefet’s study breaks.
“Both parents came with me for Selection Sunday in 2017 as a part of my journey, and I think a big part was how they were willing to support me no matter what my journey was, whether that was pursuing medicine, whether that would have been anything in the realm of what I wanted to do, I knew I had that backbone to go back to,” she said “They’ve never put pressure on me, but they’ve just kind of allowed me to guide and remained my cheerleaders.”
Earlier this year, Shefet followed families ties and traditions to Israel, where she spent a month shadowing a family medicine physician and visiting her grandmother and other family in Tel Aviv.
Those close family ties allow Shefet to picture herself as a physician who establishes special relationships with her patients and their families.
“Dana is the kind of physician I would want for myself and my family,” Eagan said. “She is not only smart and capable; she truly cares about people and approaches problems with thoughtfulness and compassion. Dana understands health in a holistic sense and strives to be the kind of doctor who helps patients live healthier, fuller lives. That is something beyond medicine — it’s a true commitment to caring for and serving others.”
Dr. Amanda Higginson, Brody’s associate dean for student affairs, clinical sciences, said she was thrilled to see Shefet match in family medicine.
“I’m excited to see what her residency journey holds for her,” Higginson said. “Someone like Dana can be a force for good if they use their personality and skills to encourage an environment of inclusivity and making sure that everyone feels comfortable and welcome. When students are enthusiastic and engaged, it makes teaching so much more enjoyable and really serves as a motivator for professors and clinicians to ‘step up’ their game.”
It didn’t take long for Brody classmate Cara Girardi to become close friends with Shefet — a relationship that will only strengthen as the two continue as colleagues.
“She has been such a big part of my journey at Brody, and dare I say a lot of people’s journeys, as she’s not only invested in her success as a future doctor but the people around her as well,” Girardi said. “Her ability to connect with people — in and outside of the clinical space — is a skill that I’ve been in awe of since I’ve known her. Not only is she incredibly smart, but she has an innate ability to make everyone around her feel heard and valued.”
Eagan said Shefet’s role as an ambassador for both the Honors College and the Brody School of Medicine helped set her up for success because of their pipeline programs and mission focus.
“We know that we want those bright stars in the Honor’s College to stay here — and I can attest that Dana was very much a bright, shining star — so we are intentional about recruiting and retaining those stars. Dana’s passion then aligned with the values of Brody to provide and support opportunities for her to pursue it, giving her the foundation to grow into the kind of physician our communities need.”
ECU medical student Dana Shefet served as Dean for a Day during her undergraduate career in the Harriot College of Arts and Sciences. (Contributed photo)