Patel Named Paul Ambrose Scholar

May 4, 2017

Third year PCOM Georgia osteopathic medicine student Ashruta Patel (DO ’18) was recently named a member of the 2017 Class of Paul Ambrose Scholars. This prestigious program selects up to 40 health professional students who desire to learn and integrate public health into their future clinical practices. By exposing them to influential public health professionals, the program prepares them to be leaders in addressing population health challenges at the national and community levels.  

As part of the program, Patel, with the help of her mentor, Valerie Cadet, PhD, Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at GA-PCOM, will plan, implement and evaluate a project which involves providing educational interventions for patients with chronic health conditions. The project begins this month and addresses patients who are uninsured or under-insured and seek care at free and sliding scale clinics in Metro Atlanta.

“This program will provide the opportunity to initiate an intervention for patients who do not have appropriate access to resources for proper disease management," Patel explained. "We hope to be able to target vulnerable populations in local communities and influence positive health outcomes in medically underserved patients.” 

Ashruta Patel (DO ’18) (right) is shown with her mentor, Valerie Cadet, PhD, Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at GA-PCOM.

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Since 2002, more than 600 students from more than 220 academic institutions have become Paul Ambrose Scholars. The program honors Paul Ambrose, MD, MPH who was onboard American Airlines Flight 77 that was hijacked on September 11, 2001. He was the seventh Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (APTR) Luther Terry Fellow and a Senior Clinical Advisor in the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP). Planned and implemented by the APTR, the program is supported by the ODPHP of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Patel is no stranger to public health. Last November, she presented a poster entitled “Analysis of Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Data to Assess Diabetes and Self-Management in the Deep South” at the Georgia Academy of Family Physicians Annual Scientific Assembly. And then in February, Patel had an article published in the Archives of Public Health. The article is entitled “Understanding the importance of medical student clerkships in poor health outcome regions served by Area Health Education Centers in impoverished locations of the Southern United States.”

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