Doreen Ebere Ugwuede, MBBS is a resident at Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, UAMS, in Little Rock, AR. She is a 2025 recipient of a STFM Foundation Faculty for Tomorrow Resident Scholarship.

Dr Ugwuede's Family Medicine Story

Why are you interested in teaching family medicine?

Dr Ugwuede: I observed my parents teach their students and transform them towards having a productive career. As the firstborn, I was responsible for teaching my younger siblings. It became a routine that transformed into lesson classes when their friends joined. Looking back, I realized I had a hand in raising a generation of professionals who often refer to those days I taught them as a career-defining moment. I understand that teaching is the foundation for tomorrow’s future. I was chosen to be a part of my residency’s didactics committee because of my passion for teaching. 

The family medicine curriculum is unique in its diversity of clinical knowledge that cuts across all specialties involving all ages, genders, pregnancy status, and acuity/chronicity of presentations. It is rich in behavioral health, lifestyle medicine, preventive health care, and didactics on how social determinants contribute to health care. This curriculum defines a holistic approach to patient care that I am proud to talk about. I am eager to usher in the next generation of family physicians grounded in comprehensive health care and disease prevention. I can only accomplish this goal as a teacher in family medicine equipping medical students and residents to deliver high-quality care at affordable cost to both served and underserved communities. This will boost access and continuity of care and help future family physicians to thrive in underserved communities. 

According to the American Medical Association, 83 million people (24%) in the United States have no Primary Care Physician (PCP). Studies have shown that having a PCP increases positive perception towards health systems. I resolved to teach family medicine to expose medical students and residents to the beauty and mission of family medicine with the goal of “catching them young” to address the shortages of PCP. Increased PCP availability will improve community engagement and population health through health promotion, early disease detection, and treatment, creating a better quality of life and fewer hospitalizations in all communities. 

Integrative and collaborative health care is often better experienced in an academic institution as multidisciplinary resources are abundant. As such, teaching will be satisfying as a career because I have the platform to show the art of collaboration and coordination of patient care to medical students and residents in a participatory approach. Furthermore, as a teacher, I continually gain more knowledge through updated guidelines and research to improve patient care and teach updated clinical knowledge. Even if I do not find a job in a teaching institution, I will actively seek to have medical students/residents shadow me for free in my workplace to teach them and observe me practice updated clinical guidelines. 

Finally, I know that as a black family medicine teacher, I will become a motivating figure and mentor to the underrepresented in medicine driving more family physicians into the workforce and improving the statistics of minority groups.

How do you think you can make a difference in the future of family medicine? 

Dr Ugwuede: One of my goals is to shape the public perception of family medicine. I plan to use social media to discuss the crucial role that family medicine plays in the community and highlight the attractive qualities of being a family physician. I will achieve this through soundbites, comedy skits, motivational write-ups, podcasts, public speaking, and community engagement. This project will also target the younger generation on social media, inspiring them towards the discipline of family medicine. With more audience, I aim to advocate for more family physicians, promote healthy lifestyles, and preventive care, and create awareness about community resources to address poor social determinants of health. The objective is to signify the value of family physicians, correct erroneous perceptions about family medicine, and recruit more family physicians across all backgrounds to address the gap in representation and patient-doctor ratio. In addition, my activism will stimulate other family physicians to do the same in their community. 

I plan to actively participate in local and national committees that focus on innovative ideas for medical education and research. Communication skills that deliver health information in simple, empathetic, non-discriminatory, and culturally competent language are valuable. I will champion more active and experiential learning such as office-based or bedside clinical role plays among medical students/ residents supervised by attendings and clinical psychologists to enhance the effective delivery of health information. This will improve productive shared decision-making, and build trust between patients, the family physician, and the health care system. Overall, there will be higher patient satisfaction, new patient visits, and patient retention in the future. 

Digital medicine and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have become a part of our lives and future. Administrative tasks, numerous paperwork, and short staffing are huge burdens to many family physicians today. Post-residency, I plan to register for courses on digital health and utilization of AI in medicine. I hope to become an expert in this aspect to teach family physicians, medical students, and residents about telemedicine and the use of AI for office tasks, EHR management, continuity of care, and patient health education. This knowledge will improve workflow efficiency, and alleviate administrative burden and physician burnout. Also, telemedicine will increase access to health care for underserved communities and improve timely patient care management. 

I plan to advocate for family medicine-oriented policies that address physician burnout and well-being through leadership/committee roles that shape the national health care policy. My goal is to advocate for better physician compensation, reduce non-essential administrative tasks, and minimize insurance-related bottlenecks in patient care. I will also join and conduct research that showcases the critical role family physicians play in population health, discussing how we are undervalued and how legislative policies directed towards physicians’ well-being and primary care will improve primary care access and workforce, and by extension, population health outcomes.

Contribute to the Creation of the Next STFM Story

Transforming the future of family medicine would not be possible without the generosity of countless STFM members and supporters. Through both member and departmental donations, the STFM Foundation is able to support the pipeline for academic family medicine. 

Help transform the future of academic family medicine by donating to the STFM Foundation. If you have questions about the STFM Foundation, contact Mindy Householder at (800) 274-7928 or mhouseholder@stfm.org.