Samantha Busch, a fourth-year medical student at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (UW SMPH), was awarded a prestigious Pisacano Scholarship. This honor places her among an elite group of candidates nationwide, making her only the fifth medical student from SMPH to receive this accolade since its inception in 1993.
Samantha Busch
The Pisacano Scholars Leadership Program is celebrated for its commitment to nurturing future leaders in family medicine through extensive career development opportunities and scholarship funding. Each year, this highly competitive program selects only 10 students nationally. Eligible applicants are third-year medical students who exhibit a strong dedication to family medicine, leadership qualities, academic excellence, clinical proficiency, and exceptional communication and service skills.
Hailing from Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, Busch embarked on her undergraduate career at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she majored in biochemistry and earned certificates in Biocore and Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies. During this time, she co-founded Building Academic, Social and Emotional Support (BASES), a student group dedicated to aiding families and children facing homelessness and highlighting systemic inequities and the challenges of high rent costs.
After graduation, Busch served as an AmeriCorps Medicaid Outreach Specialist with the Dane County Department of Human Services and the Dane County Jail in Madison, Wisconsin. In this capacity, she engaged with over 250 individuals in homeless shelters and the jail, offering community outreach, food, Medicaid enrollment support, and healthcare education. Her work focused on enhancing healthcare access, lowering recidivism rates, and advocating for health justice within the community.
Busch’s recognition as a Pisacano Scholar was no surprise for those familiar with her work in the UW Department of Family Medicine and Community Health (DFMCH). She has shown her commitment to family medicine through various leadership positions with the UW Family Medicine Interest Group (FMIG), the Wisconsin Academy of Family Physicians – Foundation, the Family Medicine Midwest Conference Planning Committee, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) FMIG, and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) Board of Directors. Her unwavering dedication to community service, clinical and academic excellence, and leadership has garnered her numerous awards from the DFMCH, induction into the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society, and the 2025 STFM Foundation Student Scholarship.
Busch presents research on inpatient pediatric care availability.
Dr. Mark Beamsley, one of her FMIG advisors, lauded Busch’s leadership and dedication. “Sam has been an incredible leader in family medicine from the very start of medical school,” Beamsley said. “I vividly recall her as a first-year student in our FMIG leader group. She was engaged, insightful, enthusiastic, and unfailingly helpful and interested in supporting her peers in the FMIG and her fellow students. She is an incredibly hard worker who was the driving force behind large, high-impact learning events at our school. She has continued to model these qualities over the last four years, and I have no doubt she will be an inspiring leader in her residency and beyond. We are very lucky to have Sam with us and are so excited to see her enter the next phase of her career!”
In addition to her leadership roles, Busch conducted research on inpatient pediatric care availability with the DFMCH, earning her the SMPH Path of Distinction in Research Award. Dr. Ildi Martonffy, who served as her research mentor, praised Busch’s dedication and curiosity. “She was thoughtful and tenacious in the research work she did with me that summer and equally astute in the clinical setting,” Martonffy said. “She delves into all of this service work with commitment and curiosity beyond what I witness in most students. In her community work, she prioritizes centering the communities rather than any agenda folks in healthcare may have and brings her curiosity and creativity to this work, as well. I’m excited to see how her career in family medicine unfolds!”
Busch is currently enrolled in the Training in Urban Medicine and Public Health (TRIUMPH) program at SMPH, an urban training track that enhances students’ public health and advocacy skills while working with diverse and medically underserved communities. She completed a community health project with teams from Aurora Health and COA Goldin Center, a youth and family organization in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to support a new satellite clinic providing healthcare for youth and families living in health disparity areas.
Reflecting on her achievement, Busch expressed her gratitude, “Being selected as one of the Pisacano Scholars this year is such a tremendous honor. I am grateful for both the financial support from the foundation and the recognition for the endeavors that my colleagues and mentors have supported me in. The leadership program is a fantastic and unique opportunity to continue developing my skills in public health, research, and medical education that I have been building during my time at UW SMPH. Family medicine is such a wonderful specialty, and I am honored to represent a future physician in the field.”
Published: December 2024