Morgan Pierce is a student at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse through tThe Public Health Scholars program is supported by the Associated Medical Schools of New York (AMSNY)Consortium of medical schools in New York State. Pierce’s goal is to open a medical practice in a rural area like her hometown of West Davenport, New York.
Unfortunately, I know how difficult it is to get medical care in rural areas. In my hometown of West Davenport, New York, there are no doctors, which is common in most surrounding towns.
There is a hospital about seven miles from my home in Oneonta that provides basic medical care and few other services, but to see a specialist often requires a 45-minute to an hour drive. For people like my grandparents and uncles who live farther from Oneonta on small family farms, seeing a doctor is even more difficult. Farmers like them work long hours and often cannot take the time to seek medical care many miles away.
The result is that they are only treated in extreme cases when they are unable to work. Then they want to go back to farming, which is how they earn their living, and do not always take the time needed to recover or follow the doctor’s instructions. One of my uncles has already had three shoulder operations and is not yet 60 years old.
Since I was young, I have been interested in science and at one point I thought of becoming a doctor. However, when I enrolled at St. Bonaventure University, I had no idea how to go about it. No one in my family had worked in medicine. It wasn’t until my second year of college during the Covid-19 pandemic that I realized what it takes to get into medical school, but time was limited. I studied biology and applied to 10 medical schools in my final year. I was waitlisted by one school, but ultimately, none of them accepted me.
Now, a little over a year later, I will soon be a freshman at the Norton College of Medicine at Upstate Medical University in Syracuse. The Associated Medical Schools of New York (AMSNY) Public Health Scholars program helped me get there.
The program is a pathway to medical school for students who successfully complete it, which requires a master’s in public health. I was encouraged to apply after being waitlisted at Upstate and being one of seven students accepted into the program last year that offered a scholarship. I completed my master’s in public health in May and applied for AMSNY’s Diversity in Medicine scholarship, which fully covers one year of medical school.
During my time in the Public Health Scholars program, I took courses in biostatistics, epidemiology, and policy, which are the core of public health. A patient encounter was part of the program, where I was shown how to engage with patients and create meaningful conversations and change. Public health focuses on understanding the community and the people you treat and how that impacts their health and well-being. What I learned in the program will influence the way I practice medicine.
Few doctors want to live in small towns that are the end of the world to them, but I grew up in a small town and really enjoy country living. I want to practice in a rural area of New York that is very similar to my hometown and be a physician there, treating people who desperately need it. Research shows that those who are treated by doctors with the same background have better outcomes.
In the 2023-24 program year, AMSNY has provided funding for the Public Health Scholars program in Upstate for the first time. I am grateful that AMSNY recognizes the importance of understanding all types of communities and training a broader range of potential physicians to serve these underserved areas, including rural communities. Getting admitted to medical school is difficult and the process can be confusing. It’s good to know there are people out there who want to help.
