At age 16, Scott Pasichow RES’19 F’20, MD, MPH, found his calling as a volunteer EMT in East Brunswick, NJ. “It felt really good to be there for people in a critical time,” he says. Now an EMS fellow at Brown, he’s more motivated than ever to make life better, and not just for his ambulance and emergency department patients.
He joined the Emergency Medicine Residents Association board to help shape resolutions related to training and patient care, and has lobbied legislators in Washington, DC, and Providence. In 2017, he started a local Emergency Medicine Advocacy Day to get his colleagues involved.
Pasichow’s activism extends beyond humans. He and his wife, Heather Kopsco, have two rescued pit bulls. “It was very important to us to do that,” he says. Breeds involved in dog bites are often misreported. “I think every dog when you get bit by them becomes a pit bull-type dog. It hurts every rescue dog when that message gets out.”