Four students in the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University have been named to the North Carolina Albert Schweitzer Fellowship program and will spend the next year working on projects that address social factors that impact health and health care.
Their projects will be completed in part at ECU Health facilities.
Executive director Barbara Heffner said fellows are not given a project or told to address a specific health need, but follow their passion and the needs of the community to fill gaps in the health care system.
Miranda Freeman and Michael Burt are developing an end-of-life companions volunteer program for palliative care patients who do not have anyone able to visit them.
Vaishnavi Siripurapu and Elisabeth “Ella” Whitfield are launching a cardiovascular health intervention for patients at the ECU Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Unit focused on individual goal setting, nutrition education, behavioral health and community support.
