This article originally appeared in the spring 2022 edition of Minnesota Family Physician magazine.
The Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians (MAFP) Lake Superior Chapter Award recognizes medical students who demonstrate a strong interest and potential in the family medicine specialty.
This effort launched in 2011 and was led by Ruth Westra, DO, MPH, who was then chair of the University of Minnesota Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Duluth campus. Associate professor Emily Onello, MD, now oversees this award.
Second-year Duluth campus medical students are nominated by MAFP Lake Superior Chapter members who are faculty at the University of Minnesota. Fourteen out of 16 of the award recipients have chosen family medicine as their specialty.
We asked two past awardees, Kate Chamberlain, MD, and Austin Spronk, MD, to talk about the award and how it influenced their path to family medicine.
AUSTIN SPRONK, MD
WHERE DO YOU PRACTICE?
I currently practice in Luverne, Minnesota, a small community in the far southwestern corner of the state. I spent time here as an RPAP (Rural Physician Associate Program) student and really loved the community as well as the physician group—seven family physicians, three nurse practitioners, an OB/GYN and a general surgeon, all of whom are very supportive and work well together.
WHY DID YOU APPLY TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA MEDICAL SCHOOL, DULUTH CAMPUS?
Growing up on a farm, there was always a variety of work to be done—that variety is what I loved and why I was interested in family medicine. I saw Duluth as a great way to pursue that, with the Rural Medical Scholars Program (RMSP) as well as the focus on RPAP. Also, growing up in a town with no stoplights, the traffic of living in the Twin Cities seemed a bit daunting!
HOW DID YOUR MEDICAL SCHOOL EXPERIENCE INFLUENCE YOUR CHOICE TO PURSUE FAMILY MEDICINE?
In Duluth, the exposure to family medicine, starting with the RMSP program, really confirmed my desire to pursue family medicine. The doctor I worked with was a great example of the variety of care that family [physicians] provide, from obstetrical care to clinic care to hospital care to nursing home care.
HOW DID RECEIVING AN AWARD FROM THE LAKE SUPERIOR CHAPTER OF THE MAFP AFFIRM YOUR CHOICE OF SPECIALTY?
I felt the support of the local family physicians in a way that reaffirmed my desire to be part of that practice to support each other and advocate for the importance of family physicians, in both rural and urban settings.
WHAT WOULD YOU TELL MEDICAL STUDENTS ABOUT CHOOSING FAMILY MEDICINE?
I love the melding of personal relationships with medical care. I am able to have a personal relationship with my patients—discussing weather, local sports teams and crops—and be a voice of medical knowledge to help them better understand their medications, medical issues and questions that have come up from other specialists or hospitalizations.
KATE CHAMBERLAIN, MD
WHERE DO YOU PRACTICE?
I am practicing at Olmsted Medical Center (OMC) in their Pine Island Branch Clinic. I get to serve the community that I grew up supported by. From 4-H awards to medical mentors, this rural area helped me get to where I am today. OMC’s focus on and reputation for primary care in the Rochester area makes it the perfect organization in which to feel both appreciated and challenged.
WHY DID YOU APPLY TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA MEDICAL SCHOOL, DULUTH CAMPUS?
I was confident that I wanted to practice rural family medicine and, knowing the reputation of the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth campus, and their strong commitment to training rural physicians, there was no better place for me to train. I was so committed to this path that it was the only medical school I applied to through early decision.
HOW DID YOUR MEDICAL SCHOOL EXPERIENCE INFLUENCE YOUR CHOICE TO PURSUE FAMILY MEDICINE?
There was so much opportunity for clinical experience in the first two years to keep me connected to patient care and immersed in the rewarding patient relationships that drew me to family medicine. It was both refreshing—while in the midst of “textbook” learning years—and motivating to keep going through the difficult times of medical school. Their RMSP program gave me weeks of time in a rural family medicine practice as a new student, putting my learning into practice, connecting with a passionate family physician mentor and maintaining my ability to build rapport. They also give you time shadowing in local clinics, volunteer opportunities with a free clinic and an option to follow an OB patient through pregnancy to delivery, all well before you get to clinical rotations. It makes the abstract learning applicable early on, which deepens your understanding of the high volume of material you’re trying to commit to memory.
HOW DID RECEIVING AN AWARD FROM THE LAKE SUPERIOR CHAPTER OF THE MAFP AFFIRM YOUR CHOICE OF SPECIALTY?
It affirmed my choice of family medicine by reinforcing the lifelong community this specialty shares. To have the support of current physicians, paying it forward to me as the “next generation” of family medicine, made me feel welcomed.
WHAT WOULD YOU TELL MEDICAL STUDENTS ABOUT CHOOSING FAMILY MEDICINE?
There’s no other specialty like it! Every single day, I have diagnostic puzzles, joyful news, difficult challenges and the privilege to walk with patients through struggles. I see newborns, great-grandmothers and everything in between. It’s hard work that is incredibly rewarding.
To learn about making a donation in support of the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians Lake Superior Chapter Award, contact:
Elizabeth Simonson, Director of Development
University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth Campus
University of Minnesota Foundation
esimonso@umn.edu