What Our Students Say

"The GSP has been an incredible opportunity to explore my interests in primary care, meet a diverse group of community-focused people, and integrate into the Charlottesville community through service, research, and mentorship. GSP's support from its faculty, staff, and students has taught me so much about the local community and created an avenue to pursue my specific interest in supporting children with developmental needs. This program has streamlined my transition to medical school better than I could have imagined, and I look forward to the memories and experiences we will share as a GSP family."

"Community, mentorship, family: three of the things that embody the Generalist Scholars Program. Getting to know local organizations, faculty, and students as a part of this program has given me an immediate appreciation for what it means to be a primary care physician and I am excited to continue to grow and learn with my fellow GSP students!"

"The Generalist Scholars Program quickly gave me a sense of community, both in medical school and in Charlottesville. I have enjoyed working with amazing mentors who have broadened my understanding of the importance, scope, and honor of serving in primary care."

"More than anything, this program keeps me connected to why I wanted to go into medicine. It's really easy to get absorbed into the day to day of studying the science of medicine but whenever we meet, I'm reminded that at the end of the day, we are going into this to improve people's lives and that goes beyond their illness."

"Between nurturing faculty whose eager mentorship and diverse passions have taught me the many different ways we can approach patient-centered care, and humble peers who constantly inspire me with their authentic drive to be awesome care providers, the GSP community has been for me a second family that has both elevated my quality of life in medical school and empowered me to better care for the people I will serve in the future."

"GSP has been a constant source of friendship, inspiration, and renewal throughout my medical school journey. Our regular lunch meetings, whether we're discussing our faculty's latest research or trying our hand at group mindfulness exercises, have been a particular source of joy, always reminding me of the ideas and values that drew me into medicine from the start. I have learned a tremendous amount about patient-centered care and the needs of the Charlottesville community from GSP, and I am consistently humbled and grateful that I get to be a part of this family of passionate mentors and students."

"I am so grateful to be a member of the GSP family.  From the start of medical school, I was surrounded by compassionate mentors devoted to teaching and involving students in primary care initiatives.  We students were given unique leadership opportunities to teach, research, lead, and collaborate.  As a 4th year applying to residencies, I am thankful for the supportive GSP community, and I am excited to join the primary care field!"

"I think the first thing about GSP that comes to mind, for me, is its emphasis on human-centered, humanistic medicine. Medical school makes it really easy to get lost in a deep dark woods of drug mechanisms and mnemonics that I know are supposed to help me remember "something", I just can't remember what exactly. So, I found it thoroughly therapeutic to, every couple of weeks, have an excuse to sit with classmates and faculty who would reliably help me to plug back in to the humans in medicine. We'd share interesting, funny, sad, and happy stories; any GSP event was always a chance to get revitalized and be reminded that we're doing all this flim-flam for the "people". I'd leave feeling lighter and clearer-headed and, walking out, would usually remember that mystery mnemonic that had been nagging at me."

"The Generalist Scholars Program has provided me with a community of talented mentors and classmates who have served as pillars of support and sources of career guidance throughout my medical school experience. Moreover, GSP has taught me how to establish long-standing professional patient relationships and understand how socioeconomic circumstances impacts healthcare at the primary care level."

"GSP served as a small community replete with like-minded individuals.  It was filled with mentors and peers, individuals I wanted to learn from and grow alongside.  Finding a family in my fellow cohort of GSP graduates was one of the greatest things to happen in my medical school journey."