TCOM student Brittany Uebbing selected as an AAFP Emerging Leaders Institute Scholar

[Link]Brittany Uebbing

A prestigious opportunity is on the horizon for Brittany Uebbing, a third-year student at The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth's Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, as she was selected by the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation to join this year's Emerging Leader Institute.

Uebbing is one of just 30 new scholars that are comprised of medical students and residents chosen from around the nation to help grow the family medicine specialty. The scholars will be provided with valuable leadership experiences as they will be paired with a mentor throughout the year, and they will also receive a $1,000 scholarship to attend the AAFP National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students on Aug. 1-3.

"Honestly, I was surprised, but so excited and honored I was one of the 30 selected to be a part of the program," Uebbing said. "I have been extensively involved with the world of organized family medicine since the start of medical school from the local level with our Family Medicine Interest Group at TCOM to the national level with AAFP and ACOFP, holding various leadership positions along the way, so I thought I would apply and see what happens!"

Uebbing, despite growing up in an urban setting in Round Rock, Texas, has always had a passion to serve in a rural area or those which are historically vulnerable. Following her graduation from The University of Texas at Austin, she served for two years with the National Health Corps AmeriCorps program as a Maternal Health Care Coordinator in Jacksonville, Florida.

At TCOM, she has traveled to Guatemala and West Texas on medical mission trips to provide health care access. This is one of the reasons she joined the Rural Osteopathic Medical Education program at TCOM.

"I joined the ROME program at TCOM to equip myself with skills to best serve these under-resourced communities," Uebbing said. "I am excited to travel around the state as a "free ROMEr" to complete my third-year rotations at rural sites around Texas!"

During the next nine months, she will be paired with a mentor,

[Link]Dr. Marla Tobin

, who knows a thing or two about rural medicine. Tobin practiced family medicine for more than 40 years in Warrensburg, Missouri, a small rural community outside Kansas City.

Tobin, who volunteers her time, has been a mentor in the Emerging Leaders program since its inception 10 years ago
"This is a very elite group of 30 that was selected," Tobin said. "They will do an intensive two-day training when they first start in August, and then didactics through the year and we will be doing the mentoring work. They will be asked to complete a leadership project by the end of the year. It can be on anything from improving the curriculum at their school or working to teach the community about diabetes or specific populations."

The Emerging Leader Institute identifies and trains family medicine residents and medical students to build strong leadership skills.

"As an ELI scholar this year, I am looking forward to meeting the other 29 brilliant students and residents from around the country," Uebbing said. "I hope to get to know those in my leadership track (Policy & Public Health) while learning how to advocate for our local communities and vulnerable patient populations."

At the end of the one-year program, the leadership projects are evaluated, and an additional $1,000 award is given to select recipients. Finally, one Best Leadership Project Award will be named for each of the three tracks, and the recipients will receive an additional $3,000 award for participation.

Uebbing, who is on rotation in the tiny Texas panhandle town of Wellington, sees family medicine as her specialty in a rural setting.

"I want to attend a residency with full spectrum training in family medicine and obstetrics," Uebbing said. "I envision myself caring for all family members from cradle to grave, delivering their babies and watching them grow up over my career, and serving communities where health care is needed most."

"I do see myself practicing in a rural setting. As the only physician in town, you have a lot more independence and freedom to practice medicine how you want. Naturally, rural physicians also step into leadership roles as the town members look to you to maintain the health of the public."

Uebbing won't have to look far to learn about practicing in a rural community with Tobin as her mentor. She can draw on her four decades of expertise in family medicine, her business acumen and also leadership qualities. Everything the AAFP Emerging Leaders Institute is looking for.

"I hope that first of all, she will grow her love for rural health and her passion for access to health care that she has already shown," Tobin said. "We know the ropes of how family physicians take leadership roles in the country. As a woman physician who has been through it and lived it, I can share my real-life experiences with her."

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