STFM Foundation Awards Scholarship to Third-Year Medical Student Lauren Schutz

The Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) named Lauren Schutz, a rising third-year medical student at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, as the recipient of its 2024 STFM Foundation Student Scholarship.

This scholarship recognizes medical students across the country who are committed to academic family medicine and have strong potential for a career in the field.

Schutz is one of 23 students across the country to be given this award in 2024. Each recipient presented their research posters at the 2024 STFM Conference on Medical Student Education in Atlanta, Georgia.

Schutz’s project is about understanding the lives of patients who experience food insecurity and have access to food at their primary care clinic. She shared how pivotal it was for patients at the Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix’s family medicine clinic.

“It’s super rewarding to receive a scholarship, but just to be able to go to the conference and present on our research project is very exciting,” Schutz said. “I wanted to share the great results that we got from our research project.”

The Banner Family Food Pantry, a collaboration with St. Mary’s Food Bank and Sun Produce, has served over 1,500 households. Schutz and Steven R. Brown, MD, program director of the U of A College of Medicine – Phoenix’s Family Medicine Residency, interviewed 21 patients who attended the pantry and analyzed the interviews for common themes of the barriers they face.

“One of the reasons that I liked this project was it took a qualitative perspective by getting direct words from patients about their experiences,” Schutz said. “If you’re not getting those answers, then how do you know you’re actually helping them.”

The Banner Family Food Pantry, which Dr. Brown and Schutz helped open in April 2023, offers perishable and non-perishable items to any patients or people in the community of Phoenix.

Patients expressed common barriers to accessing adequate healthy food such as cost, transportation and time. Life-changing events also led patients to experience food insecurity. Others expressed the benefit of obtaining healthy food from their primary care office. “We had the idea for this research project because this is a new design, having a food pantry in a clinic,” Schutz said. “After we interviewed the patients, we analyzed the quotes and developed themes related to food insecurity.”

Dr. Brown nominated Schutz for the scholarship. He said Schutz knows primary care is a great way to serve the community.

“Lauren is incredibly dedicated to a career in primary care and addressing social determinants of health,” Dr. Brown said. “Her scholarly project, understanding food insecurity in our family medicine office, really got at the heart of the challenges facing so many of our patients.”

Dr. Brown said Schutz’s qualitative study, which is a unique topic in published literature, added an understanding about barriers patients face.

“Lauren studied patient reactions to getting food directly from their family medicine clinic,” Dr. Brown said. “I hope other family medicine physicians will see that it is attainable to provide food directly to food insecure patients in a family medicine office.”

The STFM is a national community of academic leaders committed to creating an accomplished family medicine workforce that is prepared to serve as the foundation of America’s health care system.