Elana Curry, a 2019 Pisacano Scholar, graduated from The Ohio State University (OSU) College of Medicine and is currently a 3rd-year resident in Denver, CO. Originally from Shaker Heights, Ohio, Elana graduated summa cum laude from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science in Public Health and a minor in Statistics. She received a Dean’s scholarship to attend the OSU College of Medicine and was recently inducted in the Gold Humanism Honor Society.

As an undergraduate student at OSU, Elana was chosen as one of 12 students to receive The Ohio State University Presidential Scholarship. Elana co-founded and served as co-president of ENCompass: Empowering Neighborhoods of Columbus. This organization works to connect underserved Columbus community members with medical and social resources critical to their health and wellbeing. She now continues to serve ENCompass as an advisory board member. Beginning her freshman year of college, Elana completed research in the Center of Excellence in Regulatory Tobacco Science. Her research culminated in an honors thesis and publication of a peer-reviewed paper on electronic cigarette use and tobacco cessation. Elana spent two years working with the Pure Water Access Project (PWAP), a non-profit organization dedicated to combating the global water crisis by using research to create impactful and sustainable water projects. As a research fellow, Elana planned and implemented PWAP’s water projects in El Salvador. In her senior year, Elana served as the public health student representative for the OSU Hotspotting Initiative, where she provided care coordination for super-utilizers of healthcare on an interprofessional team.

Elana has continued her leadership and community service since beginning medical school. In her second year, as president of OSU’s Family Medicine Interest Group (FMIG), Elana and her peers provided students with extensive programming, volunteer opportunities, and shadowing experiences that enabled classmates to explore the specialty of family medicine. During her time as FMIG president, the organization was awarded the FMIG Program of Excellence Award by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). Additionally, Elana serves as a student representative for the Central Ohio Academy of Family Physicians and as a public policy committee member for the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians. She served two terms as the AAFP Student Representative to the American Medical Association (AMA), where she loved working to shape policy that will increase quality, equitable healthcare for all. Two years ago, Elana founded a student-run free auricular acupuncture clinic to address the lack of integrative medicine to low-income communities. Since the inaugural night, the clinic has treated over 250 patients. She is also the Student Director of the 2020 Humanistic Elective in Activism, Reflective Transformation, and Integrative Medicine (HEART-IM), a month-long, American Medical Student Association-sponsored elective for 25 fourth-year medical students.

Elana is thrilled to become a family physician. Her personal mission is to advance healthcare for underserved communities by providing compassionate, holistic, prevention-focused care, creating healthcare models that improve all components of health, and advocating for our most vulnerable communities.