Brittney Stubbs

Meet Brittney Stubbs

Brittney Stubbs has a passion for service - local, national and international. Opportunities made possible through ETSU student organizations to work with new cultures and communities have heightened her awareness of social justice issues and inspired her to become a physician. A native of Crossville, Tennessee, Brittney is a University Honors Scholar and an Honors-in-Discipline Scholar. She recently returned from an Alternative Spring Break Experience in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, focusing on urban poverty.

You’re an honors student studying nutrition and psychology. What is your research focus?

I started at ETSU as a University Honors Scholar so I knew I would have to do a thesis. Mine is focused on psychology, and when I was accepted into the Honors-in-Discipline Nutrition Program, I added a nutrition component. The title is “Psychosocial Well-Being and Efforts to Quit Smoking in Pregnant Women of Appalachia.” My research looks at whether stress, self-esteem, depression and disordered eating patterns influence pregnant women’s smoking habits and whether or not they quit.   

I will present my research at the Boland Research Symposium (March 27) and the Southern Regional Honors Council Conference in Washington, D.C., in April.

Through your involvement with student organizations, you have traveled to Atlanta, Philadelphia and Ecuador. How has that shaped your experience at ETSU?

I have participated in Alternative Spring Break for the past three years. The first two years were in Atlanta, Georgia, working with HIV/AIDs reduction. My first year, I was a participant, and the next year, I was a site leader, so I coordinated the schedule. I brought a piece of the experience back to campus by inviting the CEO of one of the programs we worked with in Atlanta to campus for an Appalachian Summit. She provided education on HIV/AIDs harm reduction and related it to the opioid epidemic here in Appalachia, which is something I have gotten more involved in through starting an organization called Adoration Life. The organization aims to unify the faith-based community against the opioid epidemic and takes steps to bring awareness and end the epidemic in Appalachia.

Last summer, I had my first experience abroad in Ecuador with faculty and students from ETSU’s Timmy Global Health organization. We assisted with a rural medical clinic in Guangaje, Ecuador. Those experiences inspired me to work with local groups here like Habitat for Humanity, Appalachian Service Project, Good Samaritan, Boys and Girls Club and Coalition for Kids. All those volunteer experiences have sparked my interest in many different social justice issues – food insecurity, poverty, homelessness and mental health. There are a lot of under-loved and overlooked populations that I want to be able to work with and incorporate into my career as a physician.

How did you decide pre-med was the right path for you?

I started the pre-med track my freshman year and was really disillusioned regarding how difficult the social and academic adjustment would be. I started job shadowing physicians and participating in service experiences to help solidify that medicine was the right career for me. The more I do in the community, the more I want to be a physician so I can give back.

I’m also a part of the Pre-Health Living Learning Community, which has been a great way to make friends with people who have similar interests in health care. We take a lot of introductory science classes together, which helps create a support system.

You recently returned from your third Alternative Spring Break Experience, this time in Philadelphia. How was it?

Last summer, I went on a mission trip with Cru (student organization) to Philadelphia that was focused on evangelism on college campuses and community service. When I got back from that trip, I started planning the 2018 Alternative Spring Break trip. I fell in love with the city. I planned everything from the ground up. I picked where we stayed, all the service sites and the schedule, in addition to going on the trip.

My favorite experience from this Alternative Spring Break was working with an organization called MANNA. They package and deliver individual meals for people with chronic and terminal illnesses like diabetes, cancer and HIV. We also worked at the Share Food Program, which is a food warehouse similar to Second Harvest. At Broad Street Ministry, we sat with the guests and talked to them and heard their stories. As much as I enjoyed preparing food and serving people, it was also a really great experience to talk to people who came in for those services.