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A three-year stint as a high school lacrosse coach taught Katie Pumphrey that she enjoys working with teens and tweens.

“I like the type of conversations you get to have with individuals this age,” said Pumphrey, who is now a member of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine class of 2017. “I look forward to addressing specific medical challenges that this population has to deal with.”

I look forward to addressing specific medical challenges that this population has to deal with.

Knowing she was interested in a career working with adolescents, Pumphrey joined the medical school’s Pediatrics Interest Group — also known as PIG — during her first year on the MCV Campus. By her second year, she was one of the co-presidents of the group, which is very active. In addition to lunch lectures, VCU’s PIG hosts an annual conference that draws future pediatricians — attendees come from up and down the East Coast and from as far away as New York.

When she saw an opportunity to be more involved on the national level, Pumphrey jumped at the chance.

Pumphrey has been chosen by the American Academy of Pediatrics as one of 20 student representatives from around the country. She will serve two terms as one of two representatives for district IV on the AAP’s medical student subcommittee. Her term began in January.

She will produce material and resources for medical students, including writing articles for the AAP medical student newsletter and recruiting others to write about their experiences. She will also help plan the medical student programming for the AAP National Conference and Exhibition and develop relationships with pediatric interest groups at the medical schools in her six-state district.

In addition to her work with PIG on the MCV Campus, Pumphrey has also served on the Medical Student Government as vice president of community service, a role that was recognized with VCU’s Outstanding Community Service Award.

During her first two years of medical school, she even found a way to put her lacrosse experience to work when she helped organize an inner city lacrosse league for elementary and middle schoolers in collaboration with the Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities. “It was wonderful to take a break from medical school once a week and volunteer in the community,” Pumphrey said.

Pumphrey is working toward an M.D.-M.H.A. dual degree with plans to combine her love of medicine with her interest in administration.

Now in the midst of her third-year clinical rotations, Pumphrey has already completed her pediatrics clerkship. “After completing the clerkship, I am confident that I want peds to be a part of my life and it was fun to get an idea of what ‘Katie Pumphrey medicine’ might look like in the future,” she said.

 

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