Olivia C. Means, M.D., a 2018 graduate of the USA College of Medicine, has been honored as a Diamond Scholar with the Brain Expansions Scholastic Training program, or B.E.S.T program.
Means was recognized as a Tampa Bay Community Hero by the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team and awarded a $50,000 grant to continue her work in the medical field. B.E.S.T is a nonprofit organization based in Tampa, Fla., that prepares underrepresented and underserved youth for future careers in medicine.
Means is a fourth-year plastic surgery resident at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, Mich., and has been working with the B.E.S.T program for years, teaching math and science to middle school and high school students before she started her career in medicine.
Means has been invited as a panelist at the Western Michigan University WMU Homer Stryker MD College of Medicine and at the Student National Medical Association. She has numerous leadership roles, including a position with the Spectrum Health Academy of Professional Educators, and as the house staff council representative for GME Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee with Spectrum Health.
