4 minute read
Scholar spotlight
Scholar spotlight
Accelerating good health: Abigail Geisinger Scholar can’t wait to have a wellness impact
Helen Guo may seem like she’s in a hurry. She earned her undergraduate degree and her master’s in public health from a University of California at Berkeley accelerated 4 + 1 program. Today, as an Abigail Geisinger 3 + 3 Scholar, she’s keeping up the tempo. She’s now two years into the accelerated program that will place her in a Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center internal medicine residency in just three years. Now a few months into her clinical rotations, Helen has already completed her internal medicine and family medicine clerkships. “Immersion into the clinical environment has proved that internal medicine is the right choice for me,” she said.
“I was really interested in Geisinger mainly for the Abigail Geisinger Scholars Program,” she added. “I feel like the 3 + 3 program made perfect sense. I am certain about primary care, and I want the ability to finish one year sooner to start working in the community.”
Interest in social drivers of health are the driving force behind both her MPH and her choice to pursue internal medicine. “At Berkeley, I was studying infectious diseases specifically. The COVID pandemic hit right at the end of my master’s, so that was interesting to see public health in action,” she said. “I was learning academically about the social drivers of health and after I graduated, I started working at the County of San Mateo in COVID-19 prevention. I was seeing all of that playing out — who was being affected and who was able to access resources, who was able to take time off work and who wasn’t — I think that’s what drew me toward medicine. I wanted to make more of an impact and have more one-on-one connections with people. That’s really what drew me to Geisinger too — that community aspect.”
Now two years into the 3 + 3 program, Helen is already a fixture in the Geisinger Wyoming Valley clinic where she will do her residency. To encourage continuity at her residency site, Helen spends every Friday afternoon in the clinic. This additional time has helped her build strong relationships with her attending physicians, residents and nurses, many of whom will be her future colleagues. It has also provided the opportunity to follow up with the same patients over time.
“I know I’m getting a really good education at Geisinger because, for me, what’s really important is that patient/doctor relationship,” she said. “I’ve had experiences myself where I’ve gone to the doctor and feel like I’ve brought up concerns that were laughed off. As a future doctor, whenever I have a patient, I never want them to feel that way. I want them to know every concern of theirs is being taken seriously, that they are being listened to. And from working with Dr. (Michael) Fox in the Geisinger Wyoming Valley clinic, I feel like he is the embodiment of what I want to do in my future practice. He takes the time to ask his patients about their lives and gets to know them. They’ll even swap reading recommendations. That’s really what I want to do as an internal medicine doctor — just take the time to listen to the patient.”
For someone always choosing to accelerate, taking that time might sound out of character. But Helen said clarity about her future makes her feel comfortable about slowing down now and enjoying the journey. “I like knowing the colleagues and the clinic where my residency will be,” she said. “I already know who my residency mentor is, so I’ve been able to start building that relationship with Dr. (Wasique) Mirza. I’ve met all the residents there. It’s a wonderful, holistic program. The idea was to get us integrated into that setting a little sooner. I think it’s amazing to be able to see the patients who will be my patients and to practice some of the things we’re already learning.”
