The Dr. and Mrs. Roy Gregory Scholarship for Family Medicine was established in 2018 through a generous endowment from the Gregory family and aims to support a 4th-year medical students committed to pursuing Family Medicine.
Recipient Lilly Morrison said it is a huge honor to have received the scholarship and is excited to pursue a career in family medicine.
“I appreciate the holistic, patient-centered approach, the long-term relationships, and the alignment between family medicine and patient advocacy,” Lily said.
Lily graduated from UCLA with a degree in Psychobiology, and later completed a Master’s of Public Health from the University of Edinburgh. She worked as an epidemiologist before starting medical school.
She currently serves as the President of the Family Medicine Interest Group, and is a Choosing Wisely STARS fellow.
Lily also volunteers with the New Orleans Reproductive Health Project and is a board member of the SWAMP Wilderness Medicine Club.
This year’s award is in the amount of $3,000.
Third-year student Tabitha Baca is the proud recipient of the 2023 Perla S. Gil, MD scholarship, which supports female medical students of Hispanic descent, a group who have traditionally been under-represented in the medical profession.
Tabitha was born in Mexico City and emigrated with her mother to Florida.
Tabitha said growing up in Mexico City, where there is a large gap of income inequality and health inequity, drove her passion for improving access to care for vulnerable communities.
“It was this passion that took me to Central America where I was a Programs Coordinator for a global health organization, where I helped lead health, infrastructure, and clean water projects.
Tabitha then worked in Australia as a Health Researcher for a reproductive health non-profit, where she aided in projects such as a white paper for reproductive coercion, women’s health research, and sexual health education.
“Receiving this scholarship feels like a step forward to increasing diversity within medicine.
“Only 2% of the physician workforce are Latinas and this scholarship is a small step toward increasing this by easing our financial burden,” Tabitha said.
Tabitha aims to dedicate her career to helping close health equity gaps for low-resourced communities and is deciding between OBGYN and emergency medicine.
“I’ve worked in reproductive health and feel strongly about reproductive rights and access to health for vulnerable women and would want to be on the frontline of these spaces and hopefully make a small dent in reducing maternal mortality.
“I’ve also worked in rural settings and I’m aware of the need for emergency medicine.
“In short, I am currently keeping an open mind,” Tabitha said.