Wayne State University medical student Leya Maliekal was awarded the Family Medicine Foundation of Michigan’s 2023 Medical Student Externship Program. 

“I'm so grateful and excited. I feel like this externship is really about exploring what Family Medicine means to you specifically, and so I cannot wait to explore, have fun and have a little taste of what my career may look like in the future,” she said.

The grant is funded jointly by the Family Medicine Foundation of Michigan – the philanthropic arm of Michigan Academy of Family Physician – and the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation.  

Maliekal will completing her externship this summer at the Detroit Medical Center’s Grand River Health Center in Detroit. The externship provides medical students opportunities to explore, through hands-on experiences, the breadth and depth of the Family Medicine specialty and develop a family physician mentor. Maliekal’s mentor will be Clinical Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences Fatin Sahhar, M.D.

“I am hoping that my time will include clinic visits and wellness exams, palliative care/hospice visits and an opportunity to apply to different grants on behalf of the clinic and participate in various community engagement projects,” she added. “The DMC Grand River Health Center was my Family Medicine rotation site during my third year of medical school, and I loved the patients, faculty and staff so much. I'm so happy to return.”

The Class of 2024 student plans to apply for Family Medicine residencies later this year.

“I'm so appreciative of how Family Medicine truly encompasses the entire community. I've witnessed how family physicians serve not just as doctors for the body, but also as advocates and community leaders,” Maliekal said. The opportunity to build and continue relationships with men and women from childhood onward is so authentic and unique to this field, and I love the emphasis on prevention and wellness. By day two of my rotation, I knew that I had found my place.”