Student Health
Dr. Kisha Young Serves Charlotte On and Off Campus, Earns Recognition for Volunteer Work
By Wyatt Crosher, Assistant Director of Communications for Student Affairs
Photo: Kisha Young (middle) with her Joyce Award for Excellence in Volunteerism, next to Student Health director Nicole Piscitelli (left) and associate medical director Renita Eason (right).
When she is not treating UNC Charlotte students as a physician with Student Health, Dr. Kisha Young helps others in need access medication and more through NC MedAssist, a volunteer role she has held for more than 15 years.
NC MedAssist is the only statewide non-profit pharmacy in North Carolina. Through various programs, they provide prescription and over-the-counter medications to those in need at no cost.
“To me, it's the least I could do,” Young said. “But these things that sometimes seem very small can have a huge impact.”
Those “small” efforts ultimately added up to a major honor, as Young was named the 2025 recipient of the Joyce Award for Excellence in Volunteerism. She was recognized for the honor at NC MedAssist’s 10th Anniversary Executive Luncheon.
In an Instagram post honoring her efforts, NC MedAssist highlighted Young’s efforts in a variety of ways, including that she has helped save the nonprofit over $120,000 in the past six months.
“For more than 15 years, Dr. Young has shared her time, talent and heart with NC MedAssist, volunteering in our warehouse, serving at Mobile Free Pharmacy events, consulting one-on-one with patients and assisting with vital medication access through our Patient Assistance Program,” the post read. “Dr. Kisha Young exemplifies what it means to serve with compassion and excellence.”
Before jumping into the world of volunteer work, Young was first a child who had a curiosity about science. She had an aunt and grandmother who were nurses, so she had a loose knowledge of the medical field prior to studying medicine at the University of Florida.
Young eventually trained at Atrium Health, known at the time as Carolinas Healthcare, where she did rotations that came through the University. She then moved to Novant Health. She trained under Dr. Robert Jones and was a program classmate to Dr. Renita Eason, the current medical director and associate medical director, respectively, at the Joyce Davis Waddell Center for Student Health and Wellbeing. Now, all three work together at Charlotte.
Focusing on student health has been something Young has enjoyed doing for the past 11 years, as she is able to both teach and provide care to the student body at once.
“This is one of the purist ways to do medicine,” Young said. “You just get to focus on taking care of students and people as opposed to some of the more business-type models that exist out there. I think it simplified life, and then I got to just focus on educating students.”
But Young’s work at the Waddell Center is only part of the story. Her volunteer work with MedAssist involves being a “bridge to help them get their prescriptions” for those who are uninsured or underserved. Young has also helped fill out over-the-counter orders at their in-person store, and on campus, she is an advisor for the National Council of Negro Women, Incorporated (NCNW) section at the University.
“Sometimes we think the biggest things have to be financial or something like that, that you have to be giving large amounts of money,” Young said. “But time and talent are also resources that are important and provide an impact.”
Her impact was honored with this year’s Joyce Award for Excellence in Volunteerism, and while it was a surprise to Young at first, it allowed her to have a moment of self-reflection on all the effort she has put in over the past 15 years.
“At first you're almost like, why? But then when you kind of look at it from another perspective — 15 years is a long time to do something, and the impact is huge on the other end of it,” Young said. “I think when you're thinking about yourself, you don't think about it in that way all the time.”
Serving the health profession has been a rewarding experience for Young, both at Charlotte and in her volunteer work. Her advice to anyone looking to follow a similar path is straightforward.
“Don't be afraid to say yes,” Young said. “If you have a passion, that's where I would start. If volunteering is your thing, I think there's tons of volunteer organizations here on campus, and even some that probably lean toward whatever your career field or personal experiences may be. I've worked with students and know that their life experience can inspire a passion project.”