Julie Byerley, MD, MPH<\/a>, president of Geisinger College of Health Sciences. \u201cSince the program\u2019s launch through today, 275 students have enrolled, and 107 graduates in residency are set to return to Geisinger between fall 2025 and 2030.\u201d\n<\/p>\nDoctors who share a vision<\/p>\n
\nGraduating without debt is an undeniable program perk. But the initiative also tends to attract a certain kind of student, one who sees the value of family-centered care that results in long-term relationships with patients.\n<\/p>\n
\nFor Steven Picozzo, MD \u201922, having the chance to study in and serve his home region was a huge program draw. He\u2019s the first Abigail Geisinger Scholar to return to the system after residency to practice family medicine, at Geisinger Tunkhannock, and he remains grateful for the opportunity.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI have family in northeastern Pennsylvania, and I wanted to stay within a reasonable distance of them,\u201d he says. \u201cInitially, I wasn\u2019t sure if that was going to be possible. There was a great deal of peace of mind knowing I wasn\u2019t going to have to separate from the people I love.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\nAnother returning scholar, John Pacheco, MD \u201922, was raised in New England and appreciates that Geisinger took a chance on an \u201coutsider\u201d who knew from the start that family medicine was his calling.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cFamily medicine is what I was meant to do,\u201d says Dr. Pacheco, who\u2019s practicing in Bloomsburg. \u201cI will always be grateful for the training and financial opportunity this has provided.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\nOf course, he\u2019s not the only one benefiting. Dr. Pacheco notes that his patients are also \u201cvery grateful for the care we provide.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Next gen care<\/p>\n
\nThe first returning scholars are just the start. A trickle will soon become a flood as even more new doctors come back to the region, armed with an outstanding Geisinger School of Medicine education and their personal convictions about the importance of whole-patient care and advocacy.\n<\/p>\n
\nFor scholar Mariia Gurevich, now a third-year medical student with an interest in family medicine, the program is a perfect fit for her background, lifestyle and goals.\n<\/p>\n
\nAn immigrant from Ukraine, Ms. Gurevich now lives in Mount Pocono with her husband and 2 children. She\u2019s not only an Abigail Geisinger Scholar. She\u2019s also taking advantage of a companion program that allows her to get into the clinic and graduate early.\n<\/p>\n
\nIt\u2019s all \u201cperfect for someone who wants to stay local and help the community,\u201d she says. \u201cYou get early clinical exposure and build relationships with everyone, from physicians to pharmacists to front desk staff.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
An added financial benefit<\/p>\n
\nDr. Byerley also emphasizes a third, often overlooked program benefit: economic development.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cOur investment is close to $13.3 million annually, but the true impact goes far beyond that. Local students get to stay in the communities they love, and students from across the country are drawn to Geisinger\u2019s unique approach to research and clinical care,\u201d she says.\n<\/p>\n
\nFor students like Ms. Gurevich, the program\u2019s benefits are more personal, but still community focused.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cIf you\u2019re confident in your specialty and want to serve your community, this program is a game-changer,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Abigail Geisinger scholars return, they\u2019re putting their skills to work as practicing physicians When Scranton community leaders…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293644,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[178,180,179],"class_list":["post-293643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293643\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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