Med Student Hopes Minority Scholarship Inspires Others
| Aug. 24, 2016 | Amanda Compadre, a third-year medical student at UAMS, is grateful to have been named a 2016 AMA Foundation Minority Scholarship Award recipient by the American Medical Association, but more importantly, she hopes this inspires more people from minority backgrounds to pursue a career in medicine.
“It’s a national, prestigious award that I felt very honored and excited to receive,” she said. “It made me feel like I could make a difference and be an advocate for people from all backgrounds. It allows me to be a role model for minorities in the future who want to do this.”
The Minority Scholars Award program was created to encourage diversity among health care providers and help eliminate health care disparities. As part of the award, Compadre received a $10,000 scholarship and traveled to Chicago for the annual AMA meeting in June.
The daughter of two health care professionals, Compadre learned at an early age about the importance of compassion.
“They always made time to give back to the community, especially with minority and underserved groups,” Compadre said of her parents, both of whom have served as faculty at UAMS. “I grew up volunteering. I always saw my parents providing and trying to improve care for those who needed it most and it influenced me.”
From the first time he met Compadre, then a high school student at a health care conference, Billy Thomas, M.D., M.P.H., vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion and professor in the UAMS College of Medicine, knew she was dedicated to helping others.
“You just got the sense she had a passion for community service and being involved in helping others,” said Thomas. “She’s a genuine human being with an incredible sense of commitment.”
Thomas saw that empathy for others extend beyond health care when Compadre decided to teach chemistry to underprivileged high school students at a school in northern California upon graduation from college.
It was during that time Compadre, who had always been drawn to health care, said she was reassured that medical school was the right path for her.
“I saw a lot of students who needed better medical services whether it was counseling, therapy or medical care,” she said. “I was drawn to that.”
Because of her compassion and skills, Thomas said he sees Compadre being able to make a tremendous impact on health care disparities among minority groups.
“Her aptitude and approach to medicine make her well suited for academic medicine,” he said. “She has a future in academic leadership.”
Compadre, who is interested in obstetrics and gynecology, feels the draw of a career in academic medicine, as well.
“I think I would like teaching fellows, residents and medical students,” she said. “I like the mentorship aspect of it, the one-on-one relationship. You get to help develop the future of the profession.”