Never forget why you went to medical school. That’s the message Michael G. Millin, MD ’99, MPH, shares with students at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he serves as associate professor of emergency medicine.
For Millin, it’s always been about service to others. RUSH’s hands-on curriculum and community-focused culture led to a fundamental belief: Health care professionals must bring medicine to the people.
Millin is inspired by RUSH’s mission and has learned through his wife, Amy, who has experience in the nonprofit sector, how tight the costs of running an educational institution can be. He gives to RUSH to ensure the next generation has the same opportunities he had.
“I’m interested in 100% participation from RUSH alumni,” he said. “Contribute what you can afford, whatever that is because every gift helps make a difference.”
After working for more than 20 years as an emergency and EMS physician, Millin backed off from working 70- to 80-hour weeks in 2020 to focus on self-care and devote more time to Austere Medical Professionals, or AMP, a nonprofit he co-founded in 2019. AMP is dedicated to bringing high-quality medical care to wilderness environments.
“The idea was to create a medical unit that could reach out as far as possible to bring medicine to the people,” he said.
In addition to helping lead AMP, Millin provides disaster relief with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He deployed to Haiti after an earthquake in 2010 and Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria in 2017.
In Haiti, Millin’s team treated hundreds of patients each day. Some arrived with disaster-related injuries, while others simply needed access to quality health care.
“At night you could hear the community in Haiti singing,” he said. “Despite the challenges they faced, they were still filled with spirit and love.”
In many ways, the experience was a reminder for Millin.
“When you get into a disaster situation, it’s pure medicine,” he said. “This is why we do what we do. It’s a wonderful, beautiful thing.”
