Lindsay Branch and Sophie El-Mahdy shared a passion for medicine at a young age.
After her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, El-Mahdy knew she wanted to become a doctor. Tragically, she never got that chance. She died suddenly from a pulmonary embolism. She was 16.
Since that day, Branch has remained focused on her path. She graduated at the top of her high school class, and when fall classes at UNC Pembroke begin this month, Branch will enter her third year as a pre-med student.
鈥淪he was the sweetest and kindest person I鈥檝e ever known,鈥 Branch said. 鈥淪he cared deeply for others. She wanted to go into medicine, so I feel like I鈥檝e been called to do this in her memory.鈥
Branch was originally planning to become a pediatrician or family medicine physician. Those plans shifted to oncology during her sophomore year when her mother was diagnosed with phyllodes tumors鈥撯 a rare form of breast cancer.
鈥淪eeing the relationships my mom built with her doctors and the way they encouraged her but also understood how difficult her journey was going to be is what inspired me to pursue this field,鈥 she said.
As an Early Assurance Scholar, Branch is guaranteed entry to the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University颅颅鈥撯揳mong the top medical programs in the state鈥撯搖pon graduation. She has excelled academically while being heavily engaged as a chancellor ambassador, Health Careers Access Program (HCAP) peer advisor, Health Careers Club president and research assistant. She spent seven weeks this summer at Dr. Ben Bahr鈥檚 lab researching beef bull cytology alongside her animal science professor Dr. Nicolas Negrin-Pereira.
鈥淚鈥檓 so thankful for this tremendous opportunity to be able to pursue my dream,鈥 said Branch, who is from Lumberton. 鈥淚鈥檝e grown so much here. When I came here as a freshman, a lot was going on with Covid, but these last three years I鈥檝e developed lifelong friends and gotten to know my professors personally.
鈥淭here are not enough words to describe how much this scholarship means. It has opened many doors and showed me how much work it takes to become a physician.鈥
