Photo: Bryan Goodchild
Regina Taylor, MPH, a rising second-year medical student at UMass Chan Medical School, has been named the inaugural Huppert Community Health Scholar in Family Medicine.
“It’s such an honor to be selected for this program and it’s a great opportunity that I’m grateful for,” Taylor said. “Being able to witness the great work that is happening in primary care and family medicine at UMass Chan and in the community, and to be able to work closely with faculty who have so much experience in community health, is really special.”
Named after late UMass Chan faculty member Mick Huppert, MPH, the Huppert Community Health Scholar in Family Medicine program provides medical students interested in family medicine opportunities to engage in community health, outreach and leadership experiences.
Hugh J. Silk, MD, MPH, professor of family medicine & community health and MassAHEC’s medical director, will serve as Taylor’s program mentor.
“The program is a give and take, with the hope that Regina has such positive experiences and role models over the course of the program that she’s encouraged to pursue a career as a family doctor and wants to be an active part of her community,” Dr. Silk said.
Taylor and Silk are working this summer to create a specialized database of community resources and partners that family medicine physicians, residents and students can access efficiently to meet patient needs outside of the clinical setting, such as housing and food insecurity.
Taylor is in the LEAD@Lahey track at the UMass Chan-Lahey regional campus at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Massachusetts. She is the student leader of the Department of Family Medicine & Community Health’s Family Medicine Interest Group and is a Massachusetts Area Health Education Center (MassAHEC) urban health scholar.
She grew up in Virginia and is a first-generation college student. Taylor earned her undergraduate degree and master’s in public health from the University of Virginia.
Huppert scholars participate in the program throughout their medical education, until graduation and serve as mentors for each scholar that follows.
“Mentorship has made all the difference for me. I hope I can be a role model and show the other scholars what’s possible with a background in primary care and family medicine and help build a strong foundation for this program over the course of my medical school career,” Taylor said.
The scholarship is awarded on an annual basis to a first-year medical student. The next round of applications for the Huppert Community Health Scholar in Family Medicine is expected to open by early 2027.
