Hannah grew up in Franklinton, LA, a small town in Washington parish. For her undergraduate degree, she attended Tulane University and studied neuroscience and history.

Hannah credits the mentorship of a hometown physician with helping her choose to become a physician. She states, “I would like to give a shout-out to Dr. Kyle Magee, an internal medicine-pediatrics physician from my hometown who talked to me at length when I was deciding whether to pursue medicine. He took the time out of his very busy schedule to explain to me what his path through training looked like as well as describe his day-to-day life as a busy primary care physician in my hometown. He also encouraged me when I shared my doubts about being able to attend medical school. Since then, I know that if I ever need anything I can always reach out. This mentorship was invaluable to me as I am a first-generation college student and medical student, so hearing from someone who grew up in my small hometown who was successful in pursuing medicine meant a lot to me.”

Hannah continues that she would like to practice in Washington parish, her home parish. She describes an experience that led her to become a physician as, “One of my experiences that led me to decide to become a physician was working as an emergency department technician when I was in undergrad. This was my first exposure to issues with chronic disease management and how common that heart attacks, strokes, hypertensive emergencies, diabetic emergencies, and other things of that nature are. This experience motivated me to learn more about primary care and how I could play a part in trying to educate patients on their health conditions, help them to manage their diseases, and hopefully help to prevent health emergencies. After working in the emergency department, I began working for the Bogalusa Heart Study. Unfortunately, this experience was cut short due to Covid-19, but my main takeaway from this experience was what I saw when looking at patient charts. This confirmed to me what I already suspected from growing up in Washington parish - the astronomical amounts of chronic disease, low health literacy, and low access to care present within my home community honestly broke my heart. This experience motivated me to become a primary care physician so that I can be a part of providing much needed health services to my rural and underserved community. I also worked as a resident advisor in college in a freshman dorm, and this was my first exposure to having difficult conversations with people about mental health, sexual violence, relationship problems, and other difficult issues. I believe that this experience is what initially showed me that it is a privilege to help support and guide people through some of the most difficult situations they have experienced, and I will get to do the same thing as a physician with helping people through issues related to their health.”  She states, “I am excited for the opportunity in family medicine to see patients of all ages and talk to them about the unique health challenges faced at different points throughout the lifespan. I am also potentially interested in working with patients who are in the nursing home or spending some time in the inpatient setting, but I would like to primarily work in clinic. I am so glad that family medicine offers many different opportunities because at this point I like everything, so I am excited to see what opportunities arise for me.”

Hannah is also one of the Class of 2025 Rural Scholars. Rural Scholars are highly motivated students who are committed to practicing rural primary care in Louisiana. A student can apply to the Rural Scholars Track once a student is accepted the LSU Health New Orleans medical school. Hannah states, “I chose to take advantage of the Rural Scholars Program at LSU because it gives me the opportunity to start gaining experience in serving a rural community as early as while I am still in medical school. In my third year, I will complete all of my clinical rotations in Lafayette. I will also spend 1 day per week all year with a longitudinal primary care preceptor in a rural community. I am looking forward to this opportunity to participate in continuity of care and have this unique long-term experience in family medicine so that I can grow my skills and knowledge in my family medicine this early on. This program has also connected me with likeminded medical students who have similar interests and career goals to mine, and I am really thankful for the opportunity I have had to connect with them. Overall, I believe that this program provides me with countless skills and opportunities that are directly applicable to my career goals and will help me to achieve them.”

Hannah is very active in the Family Medicine Interest Group where she serves as Secretary. She is also the AAFP FMIG Student Membership Ambassador for LSU Health New Orleans. She states, “I am working to encourage more students at LSU to join AAFP/LAFP. The goal is to have 25 students join per semester, and we had 26 students join in the most recent semester!” She is also participating in the South Louisiana AHEC Scholars Program, which is a 2-year program for enrichment and education for health professionals who intend to serve rural and underserved populations. It consists of 80 hours of community service in your rural/underserved community of interest and 80 hours of didactic training on health equity, issues facing rural and underserved populations, cultural competency, etc.

Hannah recently married her husband, Jordan, who has supported her throughout her entire pre-med and medical school journey. He works as a project manager in flood and fire mitigation services at Servpro of New Orleans. She has wonderful parents, sisters, and grandparents. One of her sisters is in the nursing program at Southeastern University and the other is studying accounting at ULL. She and her husband have a 1-year-old crazy orange cat named Sebastian who they recently adopted from a shelter, and they have a Pomchi (half Pomeranian, half chihuahua) at her parents' house named Lily. In her spare time, she and her husband enjoy trying new restaurants in New Orleans with their friends, visit museums, read history books, and visit her parents, sisters, and grandparents.

Help us congratulate Hannah Adams Schilling on being recognized as our March Member of the Month!