Two Recent Grads Win NHSC Awards To Serve Vulnerable Populations
Recently minted physicians Lily Kosminsky and Kelsey Wilson-Henjum enjoy talking with patients and figuring out the best approaches for helping them maintain good health. That’s why they are about to start residencies training in family medicine, and why, before they walked across the stage at David Geffen Hall to receive their diplomas on May 24, 2018, they had committed to work at least three years following residency providing care to vulnerable populations. They will do so as participants in the federally funded National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Students to Service loan repayment program.
M.D.s from the Class of 2018, Lily Kosminsky and Kelsey Wilson-Henjum
The NHSC requires award recipients to work in areas where people lack access to quality primary care services. In exchange for their service, Drs. Kosminsky and Wilson-Henjum will receive assistance paying off their student loans.
The NHSC has offered scholarship and loan repayment assistance to doctors and dentists since 1972. The Students to Service program, which is the newest of the NHSC programs, provides up to $120,000 over four years to students who match into primary care residencies. Students apply in the fall of their fourth year and receive their first installment a few months into their residency. In return, students must provide three years of full-time clinical work at an NHSC-approved site.
To help with placement, the NHSC publishes a list of federally approved sites, including hospitals and health centers across the nation, rural health clinics, public health departments, and correctional facilities so that students can identify where they will serve post-residency.
“The NHSC Students to Service award is like an oasis in the desert for students interested in primary care medicine,” said Damien Jackson, director of Einstein’s office of student finance. “This award reduces the effect of debt when it comes to specialty choice, and we encourage eligible students take advantage of the program.”
Going Where There is Need
Following residency, Kelsey will work at Harlem’s Institute for Family Health“I want to work where doctors are most needed in the healthcare system,” said Kelsey, who credits her work helping patients at the Einstein Community Health Outreach (ECHO) free clinicwith influencing her desire to be a primary care physician.
She was matched to Harlem’s Institute for Family Health, which runs the ECHO clinic through a partnership with Einstein. “I’m excited to learn how to navigate the resources that are needed to best serve the patients I will treat,” she said. “I’ve also had a lot of mentors in family medicine at the Institute for Family Health, so it’s going to be great to continue learning from them. Their focus is training physicians to work with vulnerable populations in an urban setting.”
Lily will complete her residency at Drexel University, in Philadelphia, and will do rotations at Hahnemann University Hospital. “I’m not sure yet where I’ll spend my three years with the NHSC program, but I would love to return to the Bronx,” she said.
Paying It Forward
Lily hopes to return to the Bronx for her serviceBoth women had determined they wanted to pursue primary care in low-income areas regardless of the loan repayment award.
“I want to work in an underserved area because that’s what I’ve been doing in medical school,” said Lily.
Still, being able to do what you love and get some help with your loans was welcome news. “It was an enormous relief,” she noted. “Knowing that I’m starting my adult life without staggering loans is a big weight off my shoulders.”
When she started at Einstein, Lily wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon. That changed quickly.
“I found I was really bored in the operating room,” she said. “The first surgery was exciting, but by the fourth or fifth, it was the same thing. I gradually realized what I loved about medicine is talking to patients.”
Her clerkship rotation following surgery was in family medicine, where conversations with patients revolved around things like why they were sick and why they should care about their blood pressure. “I found that I was good at interacting with them,” she said. “And I noticed that most of the problems people have with their health isn’t the result of our not being able to figure out how to treat them, it’s that they can’t get access to the treatment or they don’t trust healthcare providers to tell them what’s wrong.”
Kelsey also found being able to chat with patients a favorite part of practicing medicine. “I like to listen to patients and figure out how I can best help them,” she said. “I find that the most rewarding part of medicine.”
As these two young doctors set out to hone their medical skills in residency, they can take satisfaction in knowing that their service post-residency will assure much-needed care for patients eager to be heard and cared for.
Mr. Jackson observed, “The NHSC program represents a win for young doctors just starting their careers and for the patients in the underserved communities where they will serve.”
Posted on: Wednesday, August 08, 2018