New Class of NC Schweitzer Fellows Named

25 Graduate Students Will Spend Next Year Improving Community Health and Developing Lifelong Leadership Skills

Davidson, NC, May 18, 2020 —The North Carolina Albert Schweitzer Fellowship (NCASF) announced the selection of its 2020-21 class of Schweitzer Fellows. Twenty-five graduate students will spend the next year learning to effectively address the social factors that impact health, and developing lifelong leadership skills. In doing so, they will follow the example set by famed physician-humanitarian Albert Schweitzer, for whom their Fellowship is named.

“This is a passionate and dedicated group of students who are seeking to improve health care and access to care,” said Barbara Heffner, Director of the NC Albert Schweitzer Fellowship. “During these extraordinary times of the pandemic, it is essential that we focus on giving the Fellows the skills and ingenuity needed to meet the changing landscape of health needs of vulnerable communities. I am impressed with the way they are working with their academic and community site mentors adapting their projects in light of current social distancing guidelines.”

Schweitzer Fellows develop and implement service projects that address the root causes of health disparities in under-resourced communities, while also fulfilling their academic responsibilities. Each project is implemented in collaboration with a community-based health and/or social service organization. The NC Schweitzer Fellowship’s new class of Fellows will lead a multitude of service initiatives including care for the homeless, low income new moms, those who are food insecure, cancer patients, people struggling with chronic health conditions, and more.

Schweitzer Fellowships have an intensive leadership component so Fellows can inspire others to improve the health of those who experience barriers to care. Fellows work under the close guidance of community and academic mentors during their fellowship year.

The 25 NC Fellows will join approximately 250 other 2020-21 Schweitzer Fellows working at program sites across the country: Alabama, Chicago, Columbus-Athens, Oh.; Dallas-Fort Worth; Detroit; Houston; Los Angeles; New Orleans; New Hampshire/Vermont; Pittsburgh; San Francisco and Tulsa. Upon completion of their Fellowship year, the Fellows will become Schweitzer Fellows for Life and join a vibrant network of more than 3,600 Schweitzer alumni who are skilled in, and committed to, addressing the health needs of underserved people throughout their careers.

Some of NCASF’s Fellows for Life include Dr. Billy Fischer, part of the first physician teams to address the Ebola crisis and who is on the NCASF,  Dr. Benjamin Gilmer, who is also the NCASF board and was featured on This American Life’s Dr. Gilmer and Mr. Hyde, and Jessica Lahey, JD, author of the bestseller The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn To Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed.

The NC Schweitzer Fellowship is funded through the generosity of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation, Duke University School of Medicine, ECU Brody School of Medicine, North Carolina Central University School of Graduate Studies, Pitt County Memorial Hospital University Health Systems of Eastern NC, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Wake Forest University Health Sciences and individual donors.

2020-21 NC Albert Schweitzer Fellows

Duke School of Medicine

Anna Paschall and Sara Grundy

Site: Interfaith Prison Ministries for Women and Formerly Incarceration Transition Program

Anna and Sara are pairing medical students with women recently released from incarceration to improve their health outcomes by connecting them to community resources and achieving personal wellness goals. Through partnerships and providing wellness bags, they aim to improve outcomes related to substance use disorders, mental and reproductive health by increasing access to care, literacy, and confidence in addressing health care needs. 

Duke School of Medicine

Alexis Musick    

UNC School of Social Work

Sara Shilling                                                                             

Site: UNC Children’s Primary Care Clinic

Alexis and Sara are addressing child and adolescent mental health by creating and leading free six-week positive parenting programs. They aim to impact adolescent mental health through education and empowerment of their parents by teaching positive parenting techniques and by helping them to better understand how to identify and respond to signs of mental health concerns in their children.

Duke School of Medicine

Meghan Price and Pratik Doshi                                                              

J Bradley Wilson Schweitzer Fellows

Site: Duke Benefits Enrollment Center and Feed My Sheep Food Pantry

Meghan and Pratik are providing free preventive hypertension and diabetes health care screenings and connecting people to community resources to provide long term health monitoring, resource connection and information for underserved residents in Durham.

ECU School of Dental Medicine

Rachel Cantrell and Ashley Huff                                                             

J Bradley Wilson Schweitzer Fellows                  

Site: ECU School of Dental Medicine Clinic and ECU Service Learning Centers

Rachel and Ashley are educating women about the systems of autoimmune diseases to streamline diagnosis and treatment.

ECU School of Dental Medicine

Josh Stewart and Victoria Long                                                             

J Bradley Wilson Schweitzer Fellows

Site: ECU School of Dental Medicine, ECU ENT, ECU Department of Radiation Oncology

Josh and Victoria are accelerating the dental clearance process for cancer patients so that they can begin treatment earlier and leading student and provider education to improve the delivery of medical and dental care to these patients.

ECU Brody School of Medicine

Joshua Parke                                                                            

Site: eKim Syringe Exchange Program

Josh is increasing access of harm reduction supplies to help decrease transmission of HIV and other infectious diseases and foster a safer community environment.

ECU Brody School of Medicine

Anna Robertson and Grant O’Brien

Site: Greenville Community Shelter Clinic, Pitt Community Care Clinic, Oakmont Medical Clinic, AccessEast

Anna and Grant are connecting homeless community members with the resources they need to achieve health and wellness and launching a vaccination program. They are also implementing a shared electronic health record for the free community clinics in Greenville. This is an expansion of a 2019 Schweitzer project.

North Carolina Central University Communication Disorders

Zhaojing Liu and Katherine Reyes-Rodriguez

Zhaojing and Katherine are enhancing the literacy skills and strengthening the cultural identity of children in a bilingual English Mandarin elementary program.

UNC School of Dentistry

Scott Philips and Christopher Lane                                                                     

J Bradley Wilson Schweitzer Fellows

Site: Samaritan Health Center

Scott and Christopher are providing free dentures and comprehensive oral health care to improve the quality of life of homeless patients. This is an expansion of a 2019 Schweitzer project.

UNC School of Dentistry

Scott Philips and Christopher Lane

J Bradley Wilson Schweitzer Fellows                              

Site: Samaritan Health Center

Scott and Christopher are providing free dentures and comprehensive oral health care to improve the quality of life of homeless patients.

UNC School of Dentistry

Amanda Swanson                                                                     

UNC School of Medicine

Micayla Jones                                                                           

J Bradley Wilson Schweitzer Fellows

Site: Integrated Health Services, within the UNC School of Dentistry Admissions Department

Amanda and Micayla are helping patients with high blood pressure manage their condition by providing education and longitudinal support which will allow them to get the dental treatment they need and improve their long-term health.

UNC School of Medicine

Lauren Halsey                                                                          

Site: Frank Porter Graham Elementary School

Lauren is helping children and their families eat healthier by increasing access to fruits and vegetables and providing hands on nutrition education at their community garden.

UNC School of Medicine

Stephen Himmelberg                                                                

J Bradley Wilson Schweitzer Fellow

Site: UNC Hospital, IFC Homeless Shelter, the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness, and the HOME Committee

Stephen is connecting patients experiencing homelessness to community housing services before discharge.

UNC School of Medicine

Sumaiya Mubarack                                                                   

Site: UNC Family Medicine Center

Sumaiya is conducting a postpartum home visit program for Medicaid-enrolled mothers in Orange County starting the day after discharge and extending through 8 weeks of life with a focus on breastfeeding support, mental health concerns, and community resource referral.

Wake School of Medicine

Laura Silla                                                                                

Site: A City With Dwellings and Wake Forest School of Delivering Equal Access to Care Clinic

Laura is providing education and diabetic foot care resources for homeless patients to help prevent foot disease. She is also linking them to a free foot clinic.

Wake School of Medicine

Akhila Boyina and Kychelle Del Rosario                                                              

Site: Wake Forest School of Medicine – Department of Family and Community Medicine at Piedmont Plaza

Akhila and Kychelle are helping diabetic patients manage their disease through dance and education workshops.