(Aug. 10, 2021) With a goal of becoming a servant leader, Franklin native Kara Gilliam said her sights have been set on East Tennessee State University’s Quillen College of Medicine since she was a high school senior. Today, the M.D./M.P.H. candidate is not only on Quillen’s Rural Primary Care Track, she is also a student member of the ETSU Board of Trustees.
“When I was growing up, my church’s youth group was relationship and service project
oriented,” recalled Gilliam. “It taught me the value of hard work and service in fellowship
with our neighbors in need. The opportunities ETSU offers for students to get involved
in the community was my biggest attractor. I truly love how the curriculum is patient-centered
and focuses on community service, especially in the rural primary care track.”
Quillen College of Medicine’s Rural Primary Care Track (RPCT) is a four-year community-based experiential curriculum whose core goals emphasize
community, rural culture, interdisciplinary team interactions and leadership development.
Having experienced most of her pre-med shadowing at urban hospitals, Gilliam was initially
uncertain if a rural track program was the right fit. However, following orientation
week at ETSU, she was sold on the idea.
“The amount of clinical experience rural track students get from ETSU is unmatched,”
said Gilliam. “You grow to love the communities and the classmates in your cadre.
The emphases on being immersed, as well as gaining clinical experience and building
relationships are quintessential qualities that I believe should comprise a medical
school curriculum. After my first year of medical school, which was online thanks
to COVID, other members of the RPCT cohort became my closest friends, and being part
of the communities with the rural track is, bar none, the most satisfying and rewarding
part of my studies.”
In addition to the rural track curriculum, Gilliam is pursuing a Master of Public
Health at ETSU’s College of Public Health because it gives her the ability to learn more about community health while serving
the region’s communities.
Part of that service involves a special research project. Together with a research
partner, both of whom work in Mountain City, Gilliam is working to improve transportation
access for senior citizens there.
“Hopefully at the end of our project, we will have helped alleviate this as a major
stressor in the community, which is what the rural program is all about,” said Gilliam.
“Caring for patients comes above all, and patients are more than just their physical
health. They have mental and emotional needs that are just as important in holistic
care. These are things I’ve already learned at Quillen, and I know my education here
will serve me and the community well. I aspire to leave the world better than I found
it through genuine relationships, benevolent advocacy and compassionate healthcare.”
No stranger to advocacy, Gilliam volunteered full-time from 2016-18 as an advocate
at the state capitol for preserving the integrity of student positions on higher education
boards across Tennessee. Earlier this year, she was also chosen to serve as a student
representative on ETSU’s Board of Trustees.
“I’m honored to serve in this capacity as well,” said Gilliam. “While my advocacy work left a lot of loose ends that weren’t resolved, I see this opportunity (on the Board of Trustees) as my culmination in this line of work. The students’ voices matter; they’re the driving force of the university. I hope to set the example that a student trustee is fully capable as a fiduciary.”
While Gilliam’s role on the board is to discuss and advocate for what’s best for the
university as a whole, she said her ultimate takeaway from ETSU so far is the irreplaceable
value of human connection.
“I’ve been able to observe, first-hand, how physicians help patients achieve a higher
standard of living by improving their mental and physical health. It is incredibly
inspiring,” she concluded.