Meet Quillen College of Medicine Student Kara Gilliam

From East Tennessee State University:

August 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.

This press release was produced by East Tennessee State University. The views expressed are the author's own.