Brittany Kizer Stovall, MD, FACP
Partner, Internal Medicine Associates of Greenville
Associate Program Director, PRISMA Upstate Internal Medicine Program
Clinical Assistant Professor, USCSOM Greenville
Member, National Council of Early Career Physicians, American College of Physicians (ACP)
Co-Chair, South Carolina ACP Associates Committee
1. What is your current professional position?
I am an assistant clinical professor at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville/PRISMA Health Upstate in Greenville, SC. I am also a partner at the Management Service Organization of the Internal Medicine Associates of Greenville. I recently accepted the position of Associate Program Director of the PRISMA Health Upstate Internal Medicine Residency Program.
2. Why did you choose internal medicine?
I like the whole casserole of internal medicine—not just the diabetes, or hypertension, or MASH: I wanted to help my patients with their entire medical profile on a personal level. Internal medicine exactly fits that desire. I chose it and would undoubtedly choose it again.
3. What trends are you seeing in your day-to-day practice (with patients, the health care system, or otherwise)?
Some of the trends I’m seeing prominently in medicine today include the interest in weight loss medicine and healthy lifestyle training. More so now than ever, patients are focused on getting the weight off and keeping it off in a healthy way.
4. What do you want to accomplish professionally within the next five years?
One of the highest levels of service to the field of internal medicine is supporting and serving the American College of Physicians (ACP). In the next 5 years, I hope I can further support and serve this amazing organization with an even deeper commitment. I am currently a member of the Council of Early Career Physicians (ECP): in this role, I see myself promoting ACP’s objectives with a hyperfocus on how they impact ECPs and how we can impact medicine. Accepting the new APD role, I want to enrich the learner experience of Primary Care. It can be a fulfilling enriching career with optimizing work flow and practice management skills.
5. Can you share a brief (and anonymous) patient encounter or professional situation that made you proud to be an Internal Medicine physician?
The word CANCER can be jarring and can make a person dive into their deep emotional pit of “What’s next?” Being an internal medicine physician, sometimes I am the one who delivers the bad news first, like the skyrocketed PSA that returns or the CT showing ovarian cancer. What makes me proud to be an internal medicine physician is not making the diagnosis first but having the privilege to be a part of someone’s journey. My pride is in checking in on someone via impromptu phone calls, getting the patient connected to the specialists they need, and holding their hand throughout the entire process. That’s the internal medicine I’m proud to be a part of and that I aim to serve.