Every year, roughly 17,000 communities across the United States are classified as medically underserved — places where patients wait months for a primary care appointment, skip follow ups they can’t afford and rush to emergency rooms for conditions that should have been caught years earlier. Physicians and Advanced Practice Providers who serve those communities need more than just clinical skills. They need the kind of compassion that makes someone drive two hours to see a patient who can’t drive at all and the financial leeway to choose purpose over salary when student loan payments come due.

Those providers exist. The challenge is getting them there.

For the third time in two years, PracticeLink has stepped up to help bridge that gap. The Spring 2026 First Practice Fund — made possible through the generosity of Scion Health, as the primary sponsor, as well as program sponsors Ballad Health and Navigate Student Loans — awards nine $2,500 unrestricted scholarships to exceptional medical trainees. 

The nine recipients

After a rigorous selection process, nine scholarships were awarded across six categories — Internal Medicine, Hospital-based Medicine, Primary Care, Rural Medicine, Medical Students and Advanced Practice Providers. The Spring 2026 recipients are:

  • Brittanie D. Hazzard Bigby, MD, MPH Obstetrics & Gynecology 
  • Catherine Cheng, DO Pediatric Emergency Medicine
  • Jocelyn Gonzalez Lopez, MD Internal Medicine
  • Alicia May, MD Obstetrics & Gynecology 
  • Oluebube “Miracle” Okoye, MBBS Pediatrics
  • Darrien Rose, MSN Nurse Practitioner
  • Benjamin Sisco, DO General Surgery
  • Bianca Uzoma, MD Dermatology
  • Darrin Ward, MSII

Compelling stories

The essays submitted by these nine recipients were nothing short of inspiring. Five key themes that emerged from their stories are:

Deeply personal journeys to medicine

    The winning entries share a unifying theme: medical journeys were profoundly shaped by early exposure to healthcare disparities, socioeconomic barriers or personal hardships. 

    Active compassion for patient care

    Their compassion transcends standard clinical empathy, demonstrated through active approaches to social determinants of health and refusing to pass judgment on vulnerable patients. When a patient misses an appointment or cannot follow a treatment plan, these providers don’t label them “non-compliant.” Instead, they ask what factors are making it hard to get better, then dig deep to uncover systemic barriers, such as lack of transportation, food insecurity or fear of losing employment.

    Community-centered goals 

    These emerging providers are universally focused on returning to or uplifting underserved, under-resourced or rural communities within the U.S. and abroad. Their ambitions include launching full-scope OBGYN clinics at Federally Qualified Health Centers, building pipeline programs for underrepresented students and expanding vital healthcare infrastructure via overseas missions and global hospitals.

    Navigating intense challenges

    The essays reveal medical training doesn’t only test them intellectually but emotionally, socially and systemically as well. Collectively, they faced immense cognitive loads when adapting to new systems and workflows, successfully pushed past imposter syndrome to find their voice in high-stakes resuscitations and managed the heavy emotional toll of caring for critically ill patients.

    Easing the financial transition to practice

    The First Practice Fund provides critical financial assistance so these providers can navigate the costly transition from training to practice, ensuring they can afford to serve high-need communities rather than being forced into higher-paying roles just to survive financially. Recipients described their plans to use the $2,500 awards in four main areas:

    • Covering board exams and unpaid study time
    • Relocation and interview travel
    • Accessing specialized training and conferences
    • Easing debt to pursue purpose-driven careers

    To this spring’s nine recipients: Congratulations from PracticeLink, Scion Health, Ballad Health and Navigate. The communities you are heading toward are lucky to have you coming.

    If you are interested in applying for a future round, or want to encourage a medical trainee to apply, please click here for more information.