Bhumika Patel ‘18, a fourth-year osteopathic medical student at Western University of Health Science College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, has been recognized as a Pisacano Scholar. She is the first osteopathic medical student to be recognized as a Pisacano Scholar.

Her selection is in recognition of academic success, clinical excellence, leadership qualities, and commitment to pursuing a career in family medicine. The prestigious award includes an annual scholarship as well as leadership skills development over the next four years. 

A UVM graduate in Microbiology and Nutrition & Food Science, Bhumika’s commitment to underserved communities can be traced back to growing up in rural Vermont. “Everything in my life funnelled me into the field or discipline of working with underserved populations,” she said. “Growing up in a rural Vermont town in Southern Vermont and then going to India back and forth every couple years, I saw these very two different communities across the globe have the commonality of having poor access to health care.”

At UVM, Bhumika nurtured her passion for supporting the communities in which she participated. Whether offering yoga classes, providing farm-fresh food to campus dining halls, or holding mental health events on campus, Bhumika focused on providing holistic student care by improving the UVM community.

Bhumika’s pursuit of osteopathic medicine began with a frustration with the current medical system. “We're just kind of putting out fires everywhere,” she said. “Where is the actual healing happening? Maybe to change the system, you have to be all up in it to make changes.”

Recalling the challenges she faced while trying to get admitted to her desired medical school, Bhumika was influenced by Cara Calvelli, UVM’s Pre-Med/Pre-Health Advisor at the Career Center. “Cara just put it into perspective and didn't sugar-coat anything,” Bhumika said. “A good mentor fills in the gaps for you when you cannot, I couldn't even think of the next steps, but Cara was thinking of the next steps on for me.”

After graduating from UVM, she spent three years working as a medical assistant at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in Burlington. She decided to approach this work through an osteopathic lens, hoping to create long-lasting care solutions by empowering patients to be their own advocate to improve their overall health.

It was through this lens that she founded the Harm Reduction and Addiction Medicine Interest Group while attending medical school, providing addiction education to her community. This work resulted in Bhumika presenting at the 2023 Osteopathic Medical Education (OMED) Conference.

To Bhumika, there’s no more important medical field than osteopathic. “We know our communities, and advocate for them from that place,” she said. “People that know their communities conduct that leadership and make lasting solutions that will be there for the long term.”

Bhumika credits her accomplishments to being an active participant in her story. “Step into the pit, wherever you are, whatever your discipline is, step into the pit of it,” she said. “There's probably going to be somebody there who will help you take the next step. Nothing's going to get done if you're too scared to open that door.”

Bhumika will begin the next steps of her training to become a family physician through the National Residency Matching Program. She encourages pre-med students to contact her, as she wants to support and give back to the UVM community.