Cedric M. Bright, MD, FACP has been named Vice-Chair of the Board of National Medical Fellowships after serving as a Board Member for 12 years.  

As a past recipient of an NMF scholarship, Dr. Cedric M. Bright knows firsthand the level of support one requires to complete medical school.  

“First-generation physicians usually don’t have access to the resources and understanding of various nuances of medical education many students from legacy families possess,” he said.  

“It’s very important to dedicate scholarship dollars for the needs of students from various backgrounds and under-resourced communities to allow them to reach their full potential.”   

Dr. Bright’s distinguished career of leadership and strategic development in academic medicine spans more than 30 years and has impacted thousands of students. 

Now, he wants to focus his attentions on the diversification of the future health care workforce. 

“I believe the mission of NMF is one that will play a substantial role as we move forward with demographic changes of our patient population and health workforce, and I actively want to be a part of it,” Dr. Bright said. “I want to be a steward of this work and not simply a contributor – a responsibility I take quite seriously and with great joy.”  

Since Dr. Bright’s parents were public school teachers, reading was fundamental in his youth.  

“When I was five years old, they bought my brother and I a series of books about different types of careers,” he said. “After we read them, my brother wanted to become an engineer, and I, a doctor – years later, that’s what we did.  

“Exposing your children to different career avenues and then actively ensuring they learn the foundational skills needed to succeed is crucial, starting at a very young age.”   

Dr. Bright earned his undergraduate degree in Semiotics from Brown University before graduating from the School of Medicine at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and accepting an internal medicine residency at Rhode Island Hospital. 

He credits active mentorship for his early successes.  

“I was encouraged in my senior year of residency to publish scholarly research on the perceived barriers and biases within medical education based on race and gender,” Dr. Bright said. “Today, studies unfortunately still find very similar experiences are ongoing.”  

A 2024 Yale University-led study, for example, found that from 2014 to 2019, the percentage of applicants to MD-PhD programs who came from households with an annual income of $200,000 or more increased 4.8%, while applicants who came from households with an annual income of $50,000 or less decreased 3.2%. Applicants with the lowest household income levels (29.9%) were 16% less likely to be accepted to medical school as those with the highest (50.3%).  

“I don’t believe anything will change until the faces of faculty do – until we have leaders and mentors who are culturally humble and relatable to students made vulnerable.”

Dr. Bright has himself become such a leader and mentor today.  

Following his residency, Dr. Bright became a clinical site director for Notre Dame Ambulatory Center.  

“We had a large volume of patients but not physicians, so I negotiated with Pawtucket Memorial Hospital to develop a community clinic in which residents could come and participate,” he said.  

Dr. Bright also served as a staff physician while overseeing the internal medicine residency program – a feat he later continued while supervising medical residents at the Durham VA Medical Center.  

It was his appointment as a clinical instructor of medicine at Brown University, however, that was a turning point.  

“I’ve remained and flourished in academics ever since,” Dr. Bright said.  

Dr. Bright served as the Associate Dean of Inclusive Excellence, Director of Special Programs, Assistant Dean for Admissions, and as an associate professor of medicine at the School of Medicine at UNC-Chapel Hill. He also served as an assistant professor of medicine at Duke University School of Medicine.  

Most recently, Dr. Bright served as Interim Vice Dean for Medical Education and Admissions and professor of medicine at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, where he also led the Office of Diversity Affairs.  

Today, Dr. Bright is more actively engaged in research, policy development, and advocacy efforts to advance the health care system and promote health equity for underserved communities.  

“NMF is uniquely positioned today to help address the physician shortage, especially as physicians begin to work less hours to ensure better qualities of life. And, while the scholarships provided are incredibly important, the programmatic activities NMF is engaged in are sentinel avenues of growth, including our Primary Care Leadership Program and Diversity in Clinical Trials Research program.”

“NMF also just received funding from the National Board of Medical Examiners to help students pay for Step exams, which I feel is a game changer. There are many hidden costs students don’t even know about until they reach that point in medical school, and too often struggle to find the means to pay for these costs beyond taking out more loans.” 

Dr. Bright also reflected on chairing NMF’s emergency fund for over five years.  

“The number of requests NMF receives for emergency funding often breaks my heart because when I learn about the conditions some of our scholars are enduring in order to stay in medical school, I’m still shocked,” he said.  

Dr. Bright’s goal with NMF, as with like-minded organizations including the American Medical Association Foundation (Board Member), Diverse Medicine, Inc. (Board Member), the Association of American Medical Colleges and the National Medical Association Action Collaborative (Member), National Medical Association (Past President), and the National Academy of Medicine (Steering Committee Member), is to promote awareness and initiatives that increase representation in medicine and clinical trials to better address health inequities.  

“I am committed to NMF’s mission because the mission is me. They supported me when I had a need, and I now intend to pay it forward for generations to come. “When I stand on someone else’s shoulders, I’ve got to prepare my own to be stood on as well.”