Michael Moran is a first-year medical student in the Population-based Urban and Rural Community Health (PURCH) track, but he is already very much at home at Baystate Health.
Moran Came to Baystate as an Undergrad
Moran's path to medical school and the PURCH track at UMass Chan Medical School-Baystate started in 2014 when he participated in the Healthcare Education Office’s Summer Scholar program as a rising college sophomore.
He worked with Tara Lagu MD, a former fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Delivery and Population Science (IHDPS), on a project that studied the validity of online commercial provider ratings and reviews.
Of his experience that summer, he says, "I had meaningful responsibilities working with some great mentors doing very impactful work. I was also given the freedom to build off my core tasks in way that provided much opportunity for growth."
Then, after graduating from the College of the Holy Cross with a biology degree, Moran was back at Baystate.
His Journey Included Stint as an Employee
In 2018 he returned to IHDPS, accepting a position as a research assistant.
Initially working with Sarah Goff MD, Moran spent several months at a local pediatric practice that serves primarily lower-income and racial/ethnic minority families. There he developed and pilot tested a protocol to address postpartum depression.
He segued to working closely with mothers in recovery from substance use disorders. The project, with Elizabeth Peacock-Chambers MD, focused on making an evidence-based parenting intervention more accessible to this population in an effort to promote parent-child attachment and recovery.
Moran credits his mentors at IHDPS for giving him tremendous opportunities and unwavering support—and encouraging him to explore his own ideas. During his three years there, he co-authored four journal publications and has three more currently in submission.
Moran had long been inclined toward medical school. PURCH offered him the special opportunity of a medical education in the community where he grew up, and where his passion for medicine began. As he witnessed firsthand the growth of the PURCH track, his interest grew as well.
He Finds PURCH a Good Fit for Many Reasons
In 2020 Moran applied to, and was accepted, into PURCH.
“A lot of time is spent in the classroom during the first year of medical school," says Moran. "But PURCH gets us out of the classroom and begin learning other aspects of medicine much earlier than I imagine most medical students do.”
In their first months in the PURCH track, Moran and his fellow students are working extensively with Baystate Community Faculty, getting to know providers and patients at Baystate’s community clinics, and taking advantage of a variety of volunteer opportunities, including administering COVID vaccines. And, they are already putting newly acquired patient interviewing and physical diagnosis skills to use during clinical sessions at local medical practices.
About his classmates, Moran says it’s obvious PURCH made an effort to admit intelligent, genuinely good people who have a wide variety of prior experiences. (Photo: Mike Moran with fellow Class of 2025 PURCHies at their whitecoat ceremony)
He adds that PURCH faculty set a high bar. "Seeing how much they put into the program, it motivates me to match that effort and enthusiasm as a student."
He's Ready for Lifetime of Learning to be a Doctor
Moran’s dad, himself a physician, emphasized that the learning and training to be a doctor are endless, so always eyeing the finish line will only lead to dissatisfaction.
Moran says his dad always advised him to embrace the marathon of becoming, and being, a physician. "He taught me to view this reality not as burden, but as a privilege and opportunity."
Moran says that with this mindset, he could not be more excited for these next few years as a medical student in PURCH —and his career in medicine.
Publications
Website Characteristics and Physician Reviews on Commercial Physician-Rating Websites
Tara Lagu, MD, MPH; Katherine Metayer; Michael Moran; et al
Organizational characteristics associated with high performance on quality measures in pediatric primary care: A positive deviance study
Sarah L Goff, Kathleen M Mazor, Aruna Priya, Michael Moran, Penelope S Pekow, Peter K Lindenauer
Development and pilot testing of an adaptable protocol to address postpartum depression in pediatric practices serving lower-income and racial/ethnic minority families: contextual considerations
Sarah L Goff, Michael J Moran, Kathleen Szegda, Tina Fioroni, Mary Ann DeBanate, Nancy Byatt
Content analysis of promotional material for asthma-related products and therapies on Instagram
Brent Heineman, Marcella Jewell, Michael Moran, Kolbi Bradley, Kerry A Spitzer, Peter K Lindenauer
Evaluation of the Acceptability of a Proposed, Instagram-Based, Randomized Controlled Trial for People With Asthma: Survey Study
Kerry A Spitzer, Brent Heineman, Marcella Jewell, Michael Moran, Peter K Lindenauer
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