Primary Care Population Medicine

Andres Amaya knew that, as a physician, he wanted to have long-term relationships with his patients. Before medical school, he earned a Master of Public Health and a Community Assessment, Program Development, Implementation, and Evaluation Certificate from Boston University, and wanted to continue that training at Brown. He found the PC-PM program to be uniquely tailored to his career aspirations.

“It teaches you how to do things not necessarily within a full public health scheme, but within a population of patients within your community,” he says. “There’s a focus on what you can do and how you can enact change across different modalities as a physician.”

His transition into the LIC was natural, and he credits not only his strong public health background, but the sense of community with peers who were knowledgeable in other disciplines. As he completed his various rotations, Amaya’s interactions with other students and peer mentors inspired him to become an LIC fellow.

“From the very beginning, we were always asked to be creative and always asked to work together and teach one another,” he says. “I think that’s something special and it’s a great way to solidify what you’re learning.”

While each PC-PM student’s experience is unique, Amaya understood the challenges they might face in third year and enjoyed the chance to improve their experience. He not only had the opportunity to teach, but also provided encouragement and personal support for students contending with outside stressors.

“[The LIC] requires an incredible amount of self-directed learning and initiative, which can be hard when you have a million things going on,” Amaya says. But when you put that effort in, “you can maximize the value of a program like this one.”

Amaya kept in mind some of his mistakes and missteps and did his best to impart lessons he wished he had known from the start. He encouraged students to collaborate frequently to help fill in knowledge gaps, and to seek out labs or research opportunities.

He says he was surprised by the unstructured nature of his role, but it turned out to be one of his favorite things about it. While he had to offer some specific lessons for third-year students, it was up to him how to present them—like, for example, an interactive review session before a shelf exam.

“It’s fun to see people build confidence and gain knowledge over time,” he says.

For Amaya, serving as a fellow solidified his desire to teach medical students or residents in the future. As he transitions to Boston University for residency, he takes with him that passion for education.

“The LIC is a unique form of a third-year medical school experience, and having fellows is a good way to mitigate the confusion that students might go through,” Amaya says.