Dr. Heidi Sallee
Dr. Heidi Sallee grew up in California. She went to the University of California at Santa Barbara for her undergraduate education. At the University of California, Dr. Sallee was in a sorority where she participated in service activities. However, she did not have that much service experience otherwise.
Dr. Sallee applied for the NHSC scholarship before her first year in medical school. When she applied, she said the application committee was like, “We don’t really believe you,” because she had so little service experience. Dr. Sallee was not accepted into the scholarship program after her first two times applying. Dr. Sallee went to St. Louis University Medical School (SLU). At SLU, Dr. Sallee was not quite involved with serving the community. Her class started a health clinic, but she was not involved with the project. She worked with the admissions office and dean’s advisory committee at SLU instead. However, she always knew she wanted to work in a MUA to do service. She said, “I always felt like when I was deciding to practice medicine, I knew I wanted to work in a medically underserved area.” This is why she chose to apply to the NHSC scholarship. After applying for the third time, she was accepted into the scholarship program. “I really knew I wanted to do primary care,” she said. For the scholarship program, you interview for a job just like anyone else would. She applied to a job at a federally qualified health center in East St. Louis. She received $95 per visit no matter what because it was at a FQHC. When applying for the job, she believes having a scholarship gave her an advantage over those in loan repayment programs.
As a pediatrician, Dr. Sallee worked in East St. Louis for five years until she switched to work at Cardinal Glennon. Even though Cardinal Glennon is not designated as a MUA because it is a hospital, it is just like a MUA. About eighty percent of Dr. Sallee’s patients are on Medicaid, mostly people from North City. Therefore, most of her patients are at or close to the poverty level.
Dr. Sallee knows physicians who participated in the scholarship or loan repayment program. When asked about the difference between the programs, she said, “If you aren’t sure that you want to work in primary care, then you might not want to do it [the scholarship program]. It is a pretty big commitment.” Dr. Sallee continued to explain that for the loan repayment program, people don’t have to commit until leaving their residency and looking for a job. She thinks from the scholarship, she got more money year by year. “I loved it [primary care]! What I do I look at it as a vocation, a mission, a calling. I hope to make a difference in their lives, even if I can’t fix it.” Dr. Sallee is not sure how she heard about the scholarship, probably through the mail. After fulfilling her two year commitment through the scholarship, she continued to work at the clinic. She reduced her work schedule to eighty percent while she had three young children. During those last three years, she wasn’t getting anything from the program. Today, she is still paying off her medical school loans, and she hopes that she will finish paying them off within the next year.
“Think about what makes you happy. You will have a lot of debt, which will ultimately be paid off. It is important to do what you love. I’d love to see our government doing more to make it attractive [to work in a MUA]. Our society in general needs to value our primary care doctors more. You should be happy at work, so that you can be happy at home,” shared Dr. Sallee. Dr. Sallee now also teaches residents and medical students to look beyond people’s flaws and want to help them.
Contact information:
Email: [email protected]
Dr. Heidi Sallee grew up in California. She went to the University of California at Santa Barbara for her undergraduate education. At the University of California, Dr. Sallee was in a sorority where she participated in service activities. However, she did not have that much service experience otherwise.
Dr. Sallee applied for the NHSC scholarship before her first year in medical school. When she applied, she said the application committee was like, “We don’t really believe you,” because she had so little service experience. Dr. Sallee was not accepted into the scholarship program after her first two times applying. Dr. Sallee went to St. Louis University Medical School (SLU). At SLU, Dr. Sallee was not quite involved with serving the community. Her class started a health clinic, but she was not involved with the project. She worked with the admissions office and dean’s advisory committee at SLU instead. However, she always knew she wanted to work in a MUA to do service. She said, “I always felt like when I was deciding to practice medicine, I knew I wanted to work in a medically underserved area.” This is why she chose to apply to the NHSC scholarship. After applying for the third time, she was accepted into the scholarship program. “I really knew I wanted to do primary care,” she said. For the scholarship program, you interview for a job just like anyone else would. She applied to a job at a federally qualified health center in East St. Louis. She received $95 per visit no matter what because it was at a FQHC. When applying for the job, she believes having a scholarship gave her an advantage over those in loan repayment programs.
As a pediatrician, Dr. Sallee worked in East St. Louis for five years until she switched to work at Cardinal Glennon. Even though Cardinal Glennon is not designated as a MUA because it is a hospital, it is just like a MUA. About eighty percent of Dr. Sallee’s patients are on Medicaid, mostly people from North City. Therefore, most of her patients are at or close to the poverty level.
Dr. Sallee knows physicians who participated in the scholarship or loan repayment program. When asked about the difference between the programs, she said, “If you aren’t sure that you want to work in primary care, then you might not want to do it [the scholarship program]. It is a pretty big commitment.” Dr. Sallee continued to explain that for the loan repayment program, people don’t have to commit until leaving their residency and looking for a job. She thinks from the scholarship, she got more money year by year. “I loved it [primary care]! What I do I look at it as a vocation, a mission, a calling. I hope to make a difference in their lives, even if I can’t fix it.” Dr. Sallee is not sure how she heard about the scholarship, probably through the mail. After fulfilling her two year commitment through the scholarship, she continued to work at the clinic. She reduced her work schedule to eighty percent while she had three young children. During those last three years, she wasn’t getting anything from the program. Today, she is still paying off her medical school loans, and she hopes that she will finish paying them off within the next year.
“Think about what makes you happy. You will have a lot of debt, which will ultimately be paid off. It is important to do what you love. I’d love to see our government doing more to make it attractive [to work in a MUA]. Our society in general needs to value our primary care doctors more. You should be happy at work, so that you can be happy at home,” shared Dr. Sallee. Dr. Sallee now also teaches residents and medical students to look beyond people’s flaws and want to help them.
Contact information:
Email: [email protected]