A student at the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) at Augusta University has achieved a milestone for the school by becoming its first recipient of the Pisacano Scholarship, a competitive award for medical students committed to family medicine.
Ana-Sophia Chung, who serves as class president for MCG’s Class of 2026, was selected as one of only 10 students nationwide to receive the scholarship for 2025. She is also the sole current recipient from a Georgia institution. The scholarship provides $5,000 annually during the student’s final year of medical school and through their first three years of residency.
“I was so excited because I’ve had all of these leadership opportunities over the last four years, and I worked so hard to be really involved with community service,” Chung said. “I just feel like this honors all that work.”
The Pisacano Leadership Program is named after Nicholas J. Pisacano, MD, a proponent of family medicine. The program supports students who meet certain academic and leadership standards by offering participation in educational events and mentorship from practicing family physicians.
Kathryn Martin, PhD, associate dean for regional campuses at MCG and Chung’s mentor, encouraged her to apply. “I had no idea how competitive this was, but when I read the application and saw what they were looking for, I thought that it’s exactly who she is,” Martin said. “It’s a win-win. For her, for the exposure, opportunity and the financial support she’ll receive, but it’s also a big deal for us.”
Chung initially planned to specialize in pediatrics but shifted her focus during clinical rotations after discovering an interest in family medicine’s comprehensive care model.
“That’s what family medicine is – you take care of people from birth to the grave,” Chung said. “There’s really no limitations to what you can do. It’s just a matter of what you choose to train in. This is a specialty where I get continuity of care. I love getting to know patients, I love getting to know about their family, what they love to do. I get to know them and take care of them for a long time.”
The need for primary care physicians in the United States continues to grow due to factors such as an aging population and workforce shortages.
Jennifer Tucker, MD, associate dean for Student Affairs at MCG and associate professor of emergency medicine and pediatrics, commented on Chung’s choice: “She has chosen family medicine as a specialty because she recognizes the importance of caring for people who are underserved who don’t necessarily have another route to obtain care,” Tucker said. “I think that she could have done whatever she wanted, but I think she chose family medicine because she thought it was the right thing to do.”
Chung attributes her career motivation partly to her parents’ background in military healthcare roles with the Air Force and early volunteer experiences with children’s charities while attending high school and later at University of Georgia.
“Since my mom is from Nicaragua, she raised me speaking Spanish, and so I was hearing these patient encounters in Spanish and then having to transcribe them in English for the medical records,” Chung said. “In that way, I got to see how vulnerable populations were treated in the medical field. Being Spanish-speaking in the United States isn’t necessarily an easy thing when it comes to getting medical care. And now, one of my biggest goals is to be a doctor who serves Spanish-speaking communities.”
During her time at MCG, Chung has been involved in various leadership roles including student delegate positions with professional organizations such as the Georgia Academy of Family Physicians and AAMC Organization of Student Representatives.
“I wear MCG on my sleeve; it’s like part of my family. I think being class president allowed me to get really close with faculty and administration here, and so I felt a lot of support from them throughout the years,” she said. “My medical education has been amazing. I’ve seen the most interesting cases you can see in a hospital because we are located in an area where we have such a large expanse of patients that we cover. We get to treat really interesting cases, do research on those cases and form connections with patients.”
Tucker noted Chung’s resilience: “As someone who has watched her since she started here and became class president, she’s weathered a lot… She’s dealt with things other class presidents haven’t had to…and she’s been a mouthpiece for her classmates and any concerns they have.”
Chung currently works as a pediatric anesthesia extern at Wellstar MCG Health performing technical roles that provide additional patient care experience.
Anthony Daniels, MD—assistant professor at Augusta University—supervised Chung during her sub-internship rotation: “From the first impression, she was already performing at a very high level… She took ownership…she did all the things you would expect a resident intern to do.” He added that leadership among new doctors can influence policy beyond local practice: “That type of leadership within the specialty could have huge implications on not just the Augusta area…but the United States as a whole.”
Chung plans to continue advocating for underserved populations after graduation next spring: “My partner and I hope to match at a program together – I’ll be practicing family medicine, and he’ll be practicing pediatrics,” she said. “In a broader scope of things, I hope to serve vulnerable populations specifically Spanish-speaking people and also advocate for my patients in health policy.”
