Nov. 4, 2021 — One UF medical student’s dedication to family medicine that expanded beyond the classroom has been recognized with a prestigious honor.

Fourth-year medical student Celeste Rousseau was recently announced as a Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, or STFM, scholar, an honor only bestowed on 18 medical students nationwide this year.

The society annually awards some of the best and brightest medical students across the country with this award to recognize their strong commitment to academic family medicine through scholastic, volunteer and leadership pursuits. The award also acknowledges the student’s potential for a career in academic medicine.

One of Rousseau’s key contributions was helping to create the UF College of Medicine’s Wellness Programs website with Lisa Merlo, Ph.D., M.P.E. As a team they compiled resources on various wellness initiatives available at UF and for the local community, and Rousseau helped direct and create wellness testimonial videos. These short videos feature interviews with UF College of Medicine students, faculty, housetaff and researchers on their wellness journeys.

“It was extremely meaningful to have vulnerable conversations about handling obstacles, learning lessons and adapting,” Rousseau said.

She also worked with her mentor, Robert L. Hatch, M.D., M.P.H., and his lab to find trends of falsely elevated potassium at the UF Health Family Medicine clinic in Old Town, analyzing the data.

She will present a poster on the topic, “Using interprofessional collaboration to address falsely elevated potassium levels in a rural clinic,” at STFM’s virtual conference in January.

“This honor is extremely meaningful to me, as my family medicine mentors have so deeply inspired me,” Rousseau said. “They have cheered me on not only as I prepare for residency, but as I battled with obstacles throughout medical school, encouraging me to persevere.”