Future Family Physicians Spend Summer Learning, Preparing for Career at Independence Health System

Twenty-five years ago, Dr. Andrew D. Bagby, a first-year resident in the Latrobe Hospital Family Medicine Residency, died tragically in November 2001. Two-and-a-half decades later, the Andrew D. Bagby Family Medicine Scholarship continues to honor its namesake, offering opportunity to aspiring physicians who represent Dr. Bagby’s distinguishing characteristics. It’s awarded annually to first- or second-year medical students with a demonstrated interest in pursuing a career as a family physician. Funded by Dr. Bagby’s parents, family, and friends, and administered by the Latrobe Area Hospital Charitable Foundation, the scholarship enables aspiring family physicians to gain clinical exposure at Independence Health System. 

The recipients must embody Dr. Bagby’s distinctive qualities — an engaging demeanor and the ability to relate with ease to people at all levels. As part of the Latrobe Hospital Family Medicine Residency, the scholarship enables two- or four-week segments for the medical students to explore specific career options, while gaining experience in the following areas: office medicine, nursing home visits/geriatrics, cardiology, orthopedics, general surgery, hospital medicine including the ICU, hospital pharmacy, obstetrics and pediatrics. 

Four medical students — one who is a Latrobe-native — were selected as this year’s 2026 scholarship recipients: Alyssa Allan, Carson Palmer, and Sarah Rhim, who are enrolled at Duquesne University’s School of Osteopathic Medicine (DUQCOM); and Hosen Arman, who is enrolled at Rowan University’s Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine. 

Carson Palmer

Carson Palmer, 27, from Latrobe, earned his bachelor’s degree from Penn State University. As for why he decided to apply for the scholarship, the short answer is to be more involved in the community where he grew up and to gather more clinical experience. 

The longer answer: “I had a career change from food science into medicine.” 

He chose family medicine for its “all-encompassing” nature.

“You need to know all aspects of medicine, and something that I can take with me from my previous career in food science is my knowledge of the food industry and interest and knowledge of nutrition. I think those are critical pieces to preventative care. And that’s something I find and have seen with my rotation in the Bagby Scholarship that is central to a lot of long-term care for a lot of patients. There's a lot of diet-related, health-related diseases that can be controlled or prevented through diet,” said Palmer.

“What I appreciated most in the program is just seeing what I can expect in my clinical rotations because while I was there, I was able to interact with a lot of third- and fourth-year med students who were on the rotation sites there,” he said. Plus, they look at everything as a “learning opportunity.” 

Palmer is no stranger to Latrobe Hospital. His first job was in the nutritional services department at the hospital. In fact, the Latrobe Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program is even on the same floor as his first job. He saw his former coworkers at the hospital and had the opportunity to spend time with his family at home in Latrobe — a full-circle experience that the scholarship enabled.  

Alyssa Allan 

Alyssa Allan, 24, from Avon Lake, Ohio, earned her undergraduate degree from Baldwin Wallace University.

Aside from what she gained in the Bagby program, she’s had three additional real-life practitioner examples set for her: from her dad, a family medicine physician, and her mom, a nurse.

“From an early age, I was inspired by my father, a family medicine physician, whose work demonstrated the profound impact of building long-term relationships with patients and caring for individuals across all stages of life. His ability to combine clinical expertise with compassion showed me that effective medicine extends beyond diagnosis and treatment; it requires trust, communication, and genuine human connection.” 

Allan’s pursuit of family medicine truly comes from her family. 

“This perspective was further shaped by growing up alongside my sister, who is deaf. Watching her navigate a healthcare system that did not always meet her communication needs highlighted the importance of accessibility, cultural awareness, and advocacy in medicine. These experiences instilled in me a desire to become a physician who not only treats illness but also ensures that every patient feels heard, understood, and empowered in their care.” 

Allan said one of the most important takeaways from the program was “Just being able to see a day in the life.” 

“You're in that odd spot where you haven't really done clinical rotations yet, and so it's really eye-opening to what your future career could look like, and the residents are wonderful. They are really open to teaching, and they were all really, really kind to me during my time there,” she said. “I'm really grateful that I got the opportunity to work with such amazing doctors and see what they do on a daily basis.” 

She also highlights the benefits of the program for others who may be in a similar situation. 

“I think that it leads an amazing opportunity for med students to take some time over their summer break and be in a clinical setting and learn from interns, second-year residents, third-year residents, and the scholarship really helps you take the time to be able to do that. They are really, really supportive. Independence is a great health system, and not only that, but they also offer housing…which is also really, really helpful in terms of the travel time, too, and so they really do just find, great ways to support you and support your schedule, and, it makes it really helpful to partake in that opportunity.”  

Hosen Arman

Hosen Arman, 28, from Bangladesh, earned his undergraduate degree from Rutgers University, Camden. 

Though a professional journey is several years in the making, Arman sums up his and the pursuit of family medicine in two sentences: 

“My desire to pursue training in family medicine is rooted in a commitment to providing accessible, continuous, and patient-centered care to underserved communities. Throughout my journey—from growing up in Bangladesh to working in community health and now training as an osteopathic medical student—I have come to understand that effective healthcare is not only about treating disease, but about building relationships, addressing root causes, and caring for patients across the lifespan.” 

He’s particularly interested in following patients at all stages of life, rural medicine, and the “full spectrum” of knowledge a family medicine provider needs to know. Arman said gaining a glimpse into that variety was a stand-out part of the program. “Today I was shadowing someone in maternal health, and the next day I'm going to geriatrics, the next day I'm doing OMT [osteopathic manipulative treatment].” 

The program provides housing and a meal stipend, and Hosen said having both of those supplied was valuable financially. “I’m really grateful to get the opportunity to shadow without being worried about where I’m going to live,” he said. “Professionally, I think it reinforced my passion of why family medicine might be the right fit for me.” 

“Family medicine represents not only a specialty choice, but a commitment to service, continuity, and advocacy,” he said.  

Sarah Rhim

Sarah Rhim, 27, from Silver Spring, Md., completed her undergraduate degree at Johns Hopkins University.  

Rhim previously worked as an emergency medicine scribe but found value in the family medicine environment as a result of the Bagby Scholarship. 

“I really like being able to see the same person over and over again — follow up with them and build that rapport…so I really appreciated the longitudinal relationship that you could build between patients because I felt like you could really get to know them and their families,” she said. 

“I feel like sometimes [family medicine] can be a specialty that's overlooked,” said Rhim. “I'm really glad that something like this exists for students like me who are interested in family medicine, and even for students who may not really know what it's about. I feel like it's a great way to get an introduction into what the specialty entails.”  

Within her interest area of family medicine, Rhim holds a special interest in geriatrics, which began after serving as primary caregiver to her grandmother, where she “faced many difficulties such as navigating the healthcare system after she had a stroke and managing her emotional outbreaks while in long-term care…I witnessed a severe lack of resources for the elderly.”  

Beyond her personal experience, the Bagby Scholarship exposed her to this area of medicine, as well.  

“I remember there were a lot of farmers and individuals who were older, and then they lacked transportation support, so I feel like that's still a very big issue that's near and dear to my heart, and prevalent everywhere, especially, though, in more rural communities.”

As someone who aspires to “become an individual who advocates for and develops systemic changes within the field,” Reim is poised to make a difference through the opportunity the Bagby Scholarship provided to her and to three other future family medicine physicians who spent their summer at Independence Health System.