By Barbara Myers
SUWANEE, Ga. | Kelsey Martin, DO ’23, is the recipient of the Mason W. Pressly Memorial Medal, PCOM Georgia’s highest student honor that recognizes outstanding achievement and service to the college, the community and the osteopathic profession.
Martin
Student doctor Martin’s accomplishments are too numerous to mention, but among her activities are:
- Serving as the director of the Doctor for a Day conference since 2021, an annual event through the Young Physician’s Initiative exposing 100+ high school and college students to valuable advice, mentorship, networking opportunities and insight into pursuing a career as a physician.
- Representing the institution at the annual DO Day on the Hill event in Washington D.C., as a delegate representing her region.
- Numerous community volunteer engagements, including Hosea Helps, a local organization geared toward offering meal and medical services to vulnerable populations; coordinating and volunteering with the Clarkston Community Health Clinic; and volunteering overseas with FIMRC at Project Alajuelita, a medical clinic providing free medical services to a large Nicaraguan refugee population.
An accomplished former gymnast, dancer and classically trained flute player, Martin was born and raised in Decatur. She earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia where she performed with the UGA Georgettes and the UGA Dance Dawgs. She fondly recalls performing for the 2018 national football championship game.
Her dance career, which started at the age of two, resulted in multiple injuries, which served as a catalyst for her interest in pursuing orthopedic surgery as a career.
Starting in July, Martin will begin residency training at Jefferson Health in Philadelphia, Penn., “to pursue my dream of being an orthopedic surgeon, a dream I’ve had for several years,” she says.
Martin was inspired to pursue a career in health care from childhood by “hanging around my mother’s clinic.” Her mother, Felicia, is a geriatrics specialist who has practiced for 30 years.
“I was aware of the fact that she was able to make a substantial difference in patients’ lives on a daily basis, and I was able to see the impact that those in health care make in their communities,” she says.
“I am someone who was also aware of prevalent health disparities and the need for more healthcare professionals in underserved communities early in life. With even further clinical exposure, this awareness has served as a fundamental catalyst for me to pursue a career as a compassionate, driven physician dedicated to serving these communities.”
Martin’s goal at the start of her medical school journey was to become a physician who would serve her patients in the best possible way. She chose the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program “because I wanted to not only gain the fundamental tools to become the best physician I could be, but I wanted a unique, patient-focused, holistic approach to learning medicine so that I could graduate as a competent, but sufficiently well-rounded physician.”
Martin has been inducted into the Sigma Sigma Phi National Osteopathic Honor Society, the Gold Humanism Honor Society and Phi Chi Medical Fraternity.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Follow Us