June 12, 2024
Dr. Bray Brown works as a family physician in Coats. She also serves as Program Director of the Harnett Health Family Medicine Residency program.
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While in medical school at the University of Maryland, she had planned to become an emergency physician. That was, until she shadowed one. “That just wasn’t for me,” she says. But she did find that she enjoyed Family Medicine, since the family physicians she knew could treat multiple generations of patients at the same time. “I wanted to take care of the entire family,” she says, “and Family Medicine was best for that.”
Dr. Bray Brown completed her Family Medicine residency in Fairfax, VA, and then she went to Chillicothe, OH, to live and care for patients in a rural community. “We wanted a smaller community where we knew the people and they knew us,” she says. “I liked the idea of seeing my patients in the grocery store and having our kids play on the same sports teams. At the time, that’s what I thought Family Medicine meant. I still do to some extent. Chillicothe was definitely that kind of environment, and I loved my job there.”
After five years in Chillicothe, Dr. Bray Brown and her family moved to North Carolina to be nearer to relatives. Today, she sees patients in Coats but has also taken up greater responsibility in educating Family Medicine residents as the Harnett Heatlh Family Medicine Residency Program Director.
Teaching was another experience Dr. Bray Brown enjoyed in Chillicothe. “In some of the day-in, day-out routine, I was losing my passion for Family Medicine,” she says. “But when I started teaching it at a residency there, that passion reignited.” Moving to North Carolina also included new teaching responsibilities at the Campbell University Osteopathic School of Medicine. Today, Dr. Bray Brown oversees 12 Family Medicine residents as they build their own patient panels and develop long-term relationships with those patients.
“I always sound corny when I talk about this,” Dr. Bray Brown says, “but I really do feel like teaching is what I’m meant to do. It’s incredibly rewarding to help others engage in what you’re most passionate about. I’ve worked hard the last few years to improve my teaching, so I can be the best educator possible. But I also just get to have some amazing residents who share my mission: practicing in an underserved, rural area and really integrating with the community there.”
And since Dr. Bray Brown has practiced in North Carolina, she has participated more with the NCAFP. “The first thing I did with the Academy was the 2020 Medical Student Day during the pandemic,” she says. “That’s how I got to know all the wonderful people at the NCAFP.” Dr. Bray Brown has also made sure to attend the annual Winter Family Physicians Weekend in Asheville for the last several years in a row: “It’s an unparalleled state conference compared to everything I’ve experienced before, especially for networking with physicians from all over the state.”
Since she became the Harnett Program Director, Dr. Bray Brown has come to work more closely with the Academy — something that has helped our own work in supporting Family Medicine residents and faculty. This past February, Dr. Bray Brown co-chaired the 2024 Family Medicine Academic Summit with Dr. Aaron Lambert. “It was a wonderful experience,” she says. “The support I received from my co-chair and from the NCAFP was incredible. It was a great collaborative effort.”