The American Medical Association Foundation (AMAF), through the Vandenberg Health Equity Fund, awarded M4 physician-in-training Brian Garcia a $10,000 DREAM MD Equity Scholarship. The annual scholarship is awarded during a student’s last year of medical school and recognizes a DACA and/or first-generation immigrant who has consistently advocated for equitable treatment of immigrants.

The Fund, created by Homeward’s Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel Brian Vandenberg, has committed nearly three-quarters of a million dollars to support scholarships through the AMAF Physicians of Tomorrow Program. Prior to joining Homeward, Vandenberg held those positions at the American Medical Association.

“The DREAM MD Equity Scholarship seeks to “ensure that our nation’s health care system continues to be enriched by DREAMERS,” said Vandenberg. (DREAMERS are immigrants without documentation who came to the United States as children and who have grown up in the U.S.; the name stems from the 2022 legislation, the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors or DREAM Act).

A DREAMER, Garcia embodies the scholarship's criteria of advocating for equitable treatment of immigrants. His less-often-traveled road to medical school started while working on construction sites. He saw his co-workers simply laugh off their medical concerns because they could not afford care, were afraid of deportation, or because of language barriers.

“This situation inspired me to pursue a career in medicine and with an emphasis on community health,” said Garcia. “My goal and focus of my work is to provide accessible and empathetic medical care to my community in the language they understand,” he said.

Since entering Stritch, Garcia has never turned down a leadership opportunity that directly helps his community. He was the clinic coordinator at Community Health Clinic (CHC), one of the largest non-profit organizations that provides free healthcare to low-income families, regardless of immigration status. At CHC, Garcia provided care, ensured proper staffing of student volunteers and physicians to help ensure high-quality care, and with the help of his team, raised more than $10,000 to support CHC. Within Stritch, he taught in the Medical Spanish Program, designing multiple activities to help his peers practice Spanish and learn new medical terms. In his advanced medical Spanish class, he helped improve awareness and knowledge of Hispanic culture by discussing literature with his “students.” As if these extracurricular activities and contributions were not enough, Garcia served on the board of Stritch’s DACA Committee where he collaborated with other members to create a mentorship program for DACA physicians-in-training like him. At Stritch, Garcia’s care and courage to be “a person for others” always takes center stage.

“Brian is among that truly special group of physicians-in-training who constantly focused on opportunities to be of service in the COVID-19 pandemic rather than focused on the imposed limitations,” said Mark Kuczewski, PhD, director of and professor in Loyola’s Neiswanger Institute of Bioethics and Healthcare Leadership.

Garcia’s unique path to medical school and his four years at Stritch have helped shape him into the person he is today. In March, he hopes to match into Internal Medicine-Pediatrics and continue to be that person for others – from behind center stage

October 2023