Resident Member Spotlight: Winona Gbedey, MD

What is next for you in your medical training and career?
I recently graduated from UT Health San Antonio and will be continuing my training at Waco Family Medicine! I am excited (and nervous) to put the culmination of everything I have worked for and learned throughout my time in medical school to use as I provide compassionate, patient-centered, evidence-based care to my future patients.

Who or what inspired you to choose family medicine?
At an early age, I learned that our country’s health systems and policies were not adequately made to provide equitable care to everyone. Socioeconomic factors, institutional and structural racism, sexism, and more – things I saw again and again impacting my family and others during my early childhood – impact access and quality of care. This realization brought me to medicine, then family medicine, a specialty that married advocacy, preventive services, and patient education with medical innovation, complex clinical decision-making, and procedures. Witnessing the full spectrum of “routine care” during inpatient and outpatient shadowing experiences and rotations – from prenatal ultrasounds and well child visits, to chronic disease management and end-of-life discussions, sometimes all within the same day – only further illuminated family medicine as the specialty for me.

Why do you choose to be a TAFP member?
I was first introduced to the TAFP during my first year of medical school. Our FMIG leadership encouraged me to participate in the Texas Family Medicine Preceptorship Program over the summer, and since then, I have continued to pursue TAFP’s educational and professional opportunities. My medical education has greatly benefited from the events, programming, and leadership opportunities created for and by TAFP medical student and resident leaders; they have provided me ample opportunity to cultivate my passion for family medicine and to share this knowledge with like-minded peers. I look forward to continuing to engage with TAFP as a resident physician!

What has surprised you most about family medicine?
It wasn't until I started medical school that I realized how important advocacy was to family medicine. But it makes sense; a specialty so dedicated to patients and communities would fight to make sure everyone gets the care they need regardless of socioeconomic status, gender, sexual orientation, racial identity, or zip code. The sheer breadth of family medicine provides a unique lens into the interwoven nature of patient lives, patient care, and outside factors that are not as easily gleaned in other specialties. Learning this was a welcome surprise and another reason why I love this specialty so much!

What advice do you have for current medical students?
Don't ever forget why you chose to enter this field. Use that reason as your motivation as you progress through challenging times with board exams, clerkships, residency applications, etc. You will make it to the other side soon enough and it will all have been worth it!

TAFP’s Member of the Month program highlights Texas family physicians in TAFP News Now and on the TAFP website. We feature a biography and a Q&A with a different TAFP member each month and his or her unique approach to family medicine. If you know an outstanding family physician colleague who you think should be featured as a Member of the Month or if you’d like to tell your own story, nominate yourself or your colleague by contacting TAFP by email at tafp@tafp.org or by phone at (512) 329-8666.