It is with great pleasure that the UAMS Arkansas Geriatric Education Collaborative (AGEC) announces its 2021 selection for the Geriatric Student Scholars program – Anusha Majagi (College of Medicine), Kristin Price (College of Pharmacy), Harper Purifoy (College of Public Health), Ellie Reaves (College of Nursing), and Kashti Shah, (Hendrix College undergraduate student).
The purpose of the Student Scholars program (sponsored by AGEC) is to increase health professions students’ interest and exposure to older adults, to improve knowledge of older adults and the specialized care they need and to promote interprofessional collaboration among health professions students.
We are so excited to announce the Geriatric Student Scholars for FY 2021 to support emerging health professionals education and participation surrounding specialized needs for older adults, and to foster interprofessional collaboration in academic and clinical geriatrics. The goal of the Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) is to enhance the quality of health care for elderly Arkansans through research, education and training. The Geriatric Student Scholars program is an excellent way to achieve this goal and mentor future healthcare team members.
AGEC Director, Robin McAtee, Ph.D., RN., FACHE
UAMS’ Arkansas Geriatric Education Collaborative is a program of the University Of Arkansas for Medical Sciences – Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging. The collaborative is funded by a Health Resources and Services Administration grant of $3.7 million for a Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program.
Geriatric Student Scholars – Congrats!
Anusha Majagi, Third-Year College of Medicine and College of Public Health student
Kristin Price, Third-Year College of Pharmacy student
Harper Purifoy, Second-Year College of Public Health student
Ellie Reaves, Junior, College of Nursing student
Kashti Shah, Junior, Hendrix College undergraduate student
Anusha Majagi
Anusha is a third-year MD/MPH student in the College of Medicine and College of Public Health at UAMS. Born and raised in Northwest Arkansas, she received a B.S. Degree in Biochemistry with a minor in psychology from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Before starting medical school at UAMS, Anusha worked at the Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center where she was involved in research with older adults with mild cognitive impairment and dementia. It was there where she discovered how much she enjoyed working with the geriatric population and learned about the importance of providing coordinated care to support these patients and their families. She is grateful to be chosen as an AGEC Geriatric Student Scholars and excited to take part in the unique educational opportunities the program has to offer.
Anusha’s future goals include working in a primary care setting to manage and reduce chronic conditions by providing coordinated patient-centered care. In her free time, she likes to travel, explore the outdoors, and spend time with family and friends.
Kristin Price
Kristin is a third year student in the College of Pharmacy at UAMS. She is originally from Jonesboro, Arkansas where she attended Arkansas State University and received a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry in 2018. She is excited to represent the UAMS College of Pharmacy and learn more about the geriatric population while working with an interdisciplinary team through the AGEC Geriatric Student Scholars program. Her interest in pharmacy began when her grandmother developed cancer and she underwent chemotherapy. Her passion for pharmacy has increased over time as she has learned more about the profession and the impact that pharmacists, the most accessible health care professional, can have on a person’s quality of life. While her interest in developing chemotherapeutic agents has since declined, her interest in Geriatrics has increased with time as she learned about the requirements and challenges that are unique to the geriatric population. She saw these challenges first hand as her grandparents aged and required more specialized pharmaceutical therapy and eventual hospice care. Kristin hopes to become a nursing home consultant pharmacist during her career and become board certified in the specialty of Geriatrics to help elderly people and their families navigate this unique stage of life. Kristin has plans to move back to the rural area surrounding Jonesboro where she can make an impact on the underserved geriatric population of the delta. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, playing games, and hanging out with her husband and pets.
Harper Purifoy
Harper is a second-year Masters in Public Health student in the College of Public Health at UAMS. She is from Malvern, Arkansas and received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Biology with a minor in Psychology from Hendrix College. She became interested in helping the geriatric population after watching her father care for patients in his own private practice and learning how crucial the care of such a community is in public health. She is eager to better her skills as a future public health professional, and she feels incredibly honored to have been selected for the AGEC Scholar program.
In addition to being an AGEC Scholar, Harper is the Secretary of the COPH Student Council, works as a Volunteer Lead at the Arkansas Food Bank, and is active in many church leadership roles. She is most passionate about fighting hunger insecurity, caring for the homeless population, and serving other populations that are most in need, such as the geriatric population. It is her hope that through her work in public health she can find her true calling and help as many people as she is able.
Ellie Reaves
Ellie Reaves is a first-year student in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program at UAMS. She comes to UAMS from the University of Central Arkansas where she obtained a BS in Nutrition.
Ellie is a third generational native of El Paso, Arkansas and is always eager to share her love for her community and family. As a child she enjoyed fishing, playing with her dog Happie, and playing sports. Her athletic abilities took her from coast to coast playing in the most competitive fast pitch softball tournaments at that time. She was awarded numerous athletic awards while at Beebe High school. Her hard work also paid off in the form of scholarship opportunities.
Ellie’s plan for the future is to mesh her nutrition degree with her nursing education to become a wound care specialist. She is very thankful to have been chosen as a Geriatric Student Scholar for 2020-2021 and hopes to gain insight into the older population as well as invaluable experiences collaborating with other student scholars.
Kashti Shah
Kashti is an undergraduate junior at Hendrix College studying Biochemistry/ Molecular Biology and Spanish literature while completing pre-matriculation requirements for medical school. Kashti spent her childhood in India, and she has a close relationship with her grandparents, which motivated her to volunteer at a local senior care home in high school. Her bond with her own grandparents helped her better connect with the guests at her local senior care home and spending her summer volunteering there had a significant influence on helping her choose her career path. As an AGEC scholar, Kashti hopes to gain valuable insights about the needs of geriatric patients in order to improve public healthcare systems designed to work with geriatric populations. Kashti looks forward to working with an interdisciplinary team to become attuned to the complex healthcare needs of a diverse group of patients in order to provide well-rounded care and be an empathetic physician in the future.