PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The winding path Alisa Pugacheva has taken to become a doctor has led her from her hometown of Morgantown, West Virginia, through Providence, Boston and East Asia. Her interest in medicine was ignited in high school, but Pugacheva wanted to take her time and allow herself space to explore a range of intellectual and personal interests along the way.
About to earn her M.D. from Brown’s Warren Alpert Medical School with a Brown bachelor’s degree already in hand, Pugacheva feels that the University not only offered a wide range of opportunities but also created a crucible in which to bring them together. She said that in addition to mentorship and support, a focus on “systems thinking” is one of the most important things she’ll take from her time as an undergraduate and medical student at Brown.
“In my East Asian studies concentration, in my volunteer work and throughout medical school, there's always been an inherent focus on understanding how social systems influence the day-to-day experience of being well,” she said. “This has really impacted how I think about health care and how I plan to practice medicine.”
Pugacheva was selected by her 147 fellow graduates to deliver remarks at the Warren Alpert Medical School Ceremony on Sunday, May 25, during Brown’s Commencement and Reunion Weekend. In an address titled, “A Labor of Love,” she intends to emphasize how love applies to the medical profession.
“I think love is intrinsic to being a good physician,” Pugacheva said. “As I went through my third year of medical school, I realized how much love — for peers, patients, even the work environment — shapes the practice of the physicians that I look up to, and how it allows me to be better at doctoring.”
The power of engaged listening
Pugacheva considered several pre-med programs before choosing Brown’s Program in Liberal Medical Education, in which students earn both a Brown bachelor’s degree and an M.D. from the Warren Alpert Medical School in eight years of study.
“Brown stood out to me because of a focus on liberal education, the freedom to fully explore additional fields and the study abroad opportunities,” she said.
Pugacheva chose to concentrate in neuroscience as well as East Asian studies given her interests in biology, language, history and the ways that different cultures practice medicine. She said she believes that fully listening to others, as well as to oneself, is a form of love — a skill and understanding she honed as a student at Brown.
Her language studies in Mandarin allowed her to engage with Chinese physicians at Zhejiang University School of Medicine’s Traditional Chinese Medicine Exchange Program, which she attended after her sophomore year.
