Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, UMass Chan Medical School – Baystate; Associate Program Director, Greenfield Family Medicine Residency Program: Age 36

Dr. Nathan Macedo

Many young people stumble upon their careers after studying something different.

Not Dr. Nathan Macedo, who, as far back as he can remember, always wanted to be a doctor. As a first-generation American (his parents are immigrants from Portugal), he was the first in his family to graduate high school, let alone college.

“I was probably inspired by my own pediatrician, and then, growing up, I always had a passion for serving others,” he said, noting that he volunteered at a local hospital while in high school and was an EMT in college. “Those experiences solidified my path going to medical school.”

He pursued a master’s degree in public health and his medical degree at the same time at Tufts University School of Medicine, and became interested in family medicine there. When he spent time in hospital wards, his interest in a different setting became even more clear. “I really loved building relationships long-term, getting to know the patients, figuring things out together, and helping them stay healthy and out of the hospital.”

Now, at Greenfield Family Medicine, Macedo is 100% outpatient-focused.

“Part of the reason why I gravitated to primary care and family medicine is I definitely would get bored if I just focused on one organ system. I like being a comprehensivist, getting to know a little bit about everyone and treating people as people,” he explained, adding that he treats everyone from newborns to nonagenarians.

As an assistant professor of Family Medicine at UMass Chan Medical School – Baystate, he also gets to train the next generation.

“I always liked teaching, and in my own clinic, I often have medical students from UMass working with me. I’m training future family-medicine doctors,” he said, emphasizing the importance of that effort. “All of us know how hard it is to find a PCP and to get an appointment. We’ve developed a good system of building a foundation for more of them.”

The residency program recruits four individuals annually for a three-year training program, and Macedo said they often challenge him as much as he does them.

“I think students push you, in good ways. They ask great questions. I feel like I’m transforming the way I practice medicine for the better because of them,” he said. “And a number are staying in Western Mass., so we’re also building that pipeline.”

—Joseph Bednar