One of UNC School of Medicine’s most unique features is its Scholarly Concentration Programs (SCP). The scholarly concentrations involve a longitudinal curriculum where students are paired with a faculty mentor, receive specialized training in a particular area, and produce a final project in the area.
While optional, scholarly concentrations are an excellent way for students to distinguish themselves from a career standpoint. Those medical students participating in an SCP have ample material to discuss during residency interviews.
Four medical students in the Class of 2026 shared their experiences in a scholarly concentration and all the benefits it has provided.
While growing up in rural North Carolina, Anna Ilyasova noticed the difference in healthcare resources between rural North Carolina and the rest of North Carolina. When visiting relatives in rural Ukraine, she noticed those same differences between rural Ukraine and the rest of Ukraine.
This disparity created a passion for Ilyasova, one that initially interested her in public health before bringing her to global health. It all led her to the Global Health scholarly concentration at UNC School of Medicine.
“I was really interested in being part of a small group of people who were really interested in global health for their potential career,” Ilyasova said. “The guided check ins and mentorship are really special in the scholarly concentration. I know that’s something I really wanted at med school. It’s helpful to be part of a group and a mentorship community that follows you along the way.”
Ilyasova’s mentor in the program was Dr. Peyton Thompson. The two of them brainstormed what global health opportunities Ilyasova could pursue and worked through questions of how she could apply global health to a future career.
Eventually, Ilyasova traveled to Kyrgyzstan where she joined a research project that studies barriers to methadone access to people who inject drugs in central Asia. Following the trip, Ilyasova produced a manuscript that was conditionally approved by a peer reviewed journal.
While participating in interviews for internal medicine residency programs, Ilyasova has continually pointed to her scholarly concentration involvement.
“It’s something that has really informed the way I look at medicine,” Ilyasova said. “No matter if you’re pursuing medical research or providing medical care in Kyrgyzstan or North Carolina, the same themes hold true. Being part of the experience allowed me to learn about public health and medicine in a place that was new to me and bring some of those lessons back to North Carolina.”
Anna Caffrey-Bottoms first got her introduction to quality improvement as a Kenan Rural scholar. She participated in small quality improvement projects as part of the program, but she still desired something bigger.
She decided to apply to the Clinician Leadership in Quality and Safety scholarly concentration in order to receive some additional training and complete a larger scale quality improvement project.
Caffrey-Bottoms was paired with Dr. Dana Neutze as a mentor. She noted how Dr. Neutze always provided a helping hand, including looking into the more intricate details of the project. Caffrey-Bottoms completed the project last year where she looked at improving the way blood pressures are charted at The UNC Family Medicine Center at Chapel Hill.
“We wanted to better chart home blood pressures so we had data on our patients and how well controlled they were,” Caffrey-Bottoms said.
The project was a major success. Caffrey-Bottoms even worked on the project past the timeline for the scholarly concentration to roll out the new charting method among even more teams. It’s all brought about a valuable experience that she wrote about in her residency applications.
“Quality improvement was one of my most meaningful experiences in the 10 experiences we had to write about,” Caffrey-Bottoms said. “I feel like it sets me apart from some other people because I’ve gotten some additional training and really focused on something that’s given me a skill that not everybody has going into residency.”
Kainat Aslam developed an interest in public health and quality improvement during her undergraduate years. When she arrived at UNC School of Medicine as a medical student and learned about the CLQS scholarly concentration, she knew it was the perfect fit.
Aslam and her mentor, Dr. Evan Raff, were able to launch a quality improvement project from scratch. They worked on optimizing proxy access to MyChart for older adult patients at UNC Hospitals Hillsborough Campus, allowing family members and healthcare decision makers with easier access to their portal.
“Dr. Raff was really supportive from the beginning because he’s super passionate about quality improvement himself,” Aslam said. “For me to do a project that I’m really interested in even though it required him to do a lot more work because it was from scratch was super meaningful.”
Throughout the project, Aslam worked with a number of different teams, including nurses, IT staff and volunteers, to support each other’s goals. It’s been a helpful experience for her future career.
Aslam applied to internal medicine for residency. The scholarly concentration gave her incredible opportunities to share on the application and during the interviews.
“This is one of my top three experiences that we’re able to list on our residency application,” Aslam said. “Having that leadership in starting a project from scratch, thinking up all the components, and being able to talk to multidisciplinary teams gives me a lot of experiences I can talk about. This was formative for me.”
After being born and raised in Cuba, Amaya Martinez Mesa moved to Miami when she was 12. While an undergrad at UNC, she participated in a public health trip to Nicaragua.
The trip gave Martinez Mesa insight into research topics she would later be interested in. Once a medical student, she knew she wanted to be involved in global health and joined the Global Health scholarly concentration.
After her MS1 year, Martinez Mesa traveled to Bolivia and worked in a public women’s health hospital in La Paz. This past summer, she fulfilled her primary global health rotation in Peru where she did some work in women’s health, primary care and emergency medicine.
Martinez Mesa credited the global health scholarly concentration staff with helping her plan the experience on short notice.
“Both Heidi White and Dr. Sylvia Becker-Dreps made it happen,” Martinez Mesa said. “I feel like we have a really strong support system. We’re all adult learners, so you need to have your own initiative and take ownership on the projects, but if you want to get something done, it will get done. I think that’s something really special about the concentration.”
For her final project, Martinez Mesa will discuss how different health systems in the United States, Bolivia and Peru have shaped her approach to patient care, communication, and clinical decision making. In the leadup to residency interviews for ObGyn, she anticipates the impact her scholarly concentration will have on her candidacy.
“From the mock interviews I have done and getting my application together, I anticipate that the SCP is going to be a big thing because it lets me talk about my background without talking just about myself,” Martinez Mesa said. “It’s easy to talk about the concentration in a way that highlights things about me.”