When it came time to choose a physician assistant program, Maduchukwu enrolled at Stanford Medicine because of the opportunities it offered to work at an academic hospital and delve into varied specialties. “There was so much support for exploring the different facets of my interests,” he said. Whether it was shadowing an anesthesiologist or a pediatric heart surgeon, “I just ask, and they set it up.”
There was so much support for exploring the different facets of my interests. I just ask, and they set it up.”
Maduchukwu also found the program’s small class size to be a supportive environment. “The small cohort helped us feel like a community, like a family,” he said. “Nobody felt left behind.”
In 2023, Maduchukwu received a Community Service Scholarship Award from the California Academy of Physician Associates, which honors PA students who combine academic excellence with public service. For him, that has included serving as a leader in student groups that organized blood drives, health fairs, open mic nights and other events. He also spent two years volunteering as a part-time lab manager at Arbor Free Clinic, which serves patients who lack insurance. “Every medical professional should have ties with the community to see what normal struggling Americans are going through and help out,” he said.
Maduchukwu explored a variety of specialties, including serving as a teaching assistant in courses on clinical anatomy, cardiovascular medicine and cardiothoracic surgery. He settled on family medicine after observing Stanford Medicine’s Stephen Richmond, MD, during rotations at Roots Community Health in Oakland. “He’s the best family medicine doctor on the planet…he’s so sweet and cares about his patients,” he said.
Chigozie Maduchukwu (top left) meets with his maternal family while visiting Nigeria.
Maduchukwu returned to Nigeria after his first year at Stanford Medicine to shadow doctors and conduct data analysis on infant mortality and in vitro fertilization. This summer, he plans to return for an internship with mDoc, a health technology company that serves patients with chronic diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension.
Afterward, Maduchukwu will start as a physician assistant at Solano County Family Health Services, a community clinic whose patients are primarily people of color, many of whom experience housing insecurity. “I want to work with patients who are typically underserved or ignored,” he said.
Drawing on his many years of community service, Maduchukwu hopes to relay another message to this year’s graduates during his speech: “In a world where medicine is under attack, we need to be a flame of truth and advocacy,” he said. “The road is looking dark, so we’ve got to be the light.”
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