Get Scholarships From New City Pgm.
Ten high school students from Queens have been selected to receive scholarships to attend St. George’s University School of Medicine under the first year of the CityDoctors scholarship program, it was announced on Monday, Jan. 7.
Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Linda I. Gibbs and Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) President Al Aviles stated that that 20 New York City students, in all, will receive scholarships totaling $2.4 million. In return, the scholarship recipients have committed to give back to their communities by practicing primary care medicine at an HHC hospital after receiving their medical degrees.
The scholarship recipients have been selected based on their academic excellence and financial need and will receive either half or full scholarships to pay for medical school tuition for periods of up to four years, with some scholarships valued at over $200,000 each.
The CityDoctors scholarship program, which was launched by Gibbs, Aviles, and St. George’s University Chancellor Dr. Charles Modica in April 2012, will provide more than $11 million in scholarships to New York City residents over five years. The program will help address the national shortage of primary care physicians and also increase opportunity for city youth by making a medical degree and primary care career more accessible for talented young men and women with limited financial resources.
“New York City’s public hospitals and clinics serve over one million New Yorkers each year and are critical providers of culturally competent, patient-centered primary care,” said Gibbs. “CityDoctors is drawing some of the best and brightest medical providers to our system, addressing a pending shortfall of talent and ensuring that the patients who rely on us will have dedicated providers for decades to come.”
“Medical schools today are simply not producing enough primary care physicians to meet society’s needs in the future,” added Aviles. “The CityDoctors scholarships help HHC bring quality primary care to New York City residents while also providing an opportunity for medical students with roots in the community to give back.”
The first class of CityDoctors Scholarship Program recipients are a diverse group of 12 women and eight men, representing all five boroughs. Many graduated from New York City public high schools, including from Stuyvesant High, Brooklyn Tech, Staten Island Tech, Townsend Harris, Francis Lewis, Midwood and Bronx High School of Science.
The winners hold undergraduate degrees from prestigious institutions including the State University of New York, the City University of New York, Cornell University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University, Oberlin College, the New York Institute of Technology and Brooklyn College.
To be eligible, the students had to fulfill all the requirements to be accepted to medical school and meet at least one of the following criteria: graduated from a New York City high school, have five years of residency in the city, have a parent employed by HHC or the City of New York or be employed by HHC or the City of New York for at least five years.
In return for their scholarships, for each equivalent year of tuition they receive each student has committed to provide one year of service as a primary care attending physician at one of HHC’s 11 public hospitals. Several of the students have already completed part of the medical school educations, while others are beginning their studies this semester.
Among the scholarship winners are the following Queens residents:
– Felicia Fojas, a full scholarship and a one-year commitment to HHC;
– Arun John, a half-scholarship and a two-year commitment to HHC;
– Kunal Kambli, a full scholarship and a two-year commitment to HHC;
– Gloria Lee, a full scholarship anda21/2-yearcommitmentto HHC;
– Prathuangsuk Praeophayom, a full scholarship and a four-year commitment to HHC;
– David Roy, a full scholarship and a four-year commitment to HHC;
– Nawaz Rupani, a full scholarship and a four-year commitment to HHC;
– Ali Samee, a full scholarship and a two-year commitment to HHC;
– Malv Thakker, a half-scholarship and a two-year commitment to HHC; and
– Miloni Thakker, a half-scholarship and a two-year commitment to HHC.
The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) advises that the U.S. could face a shortage of 90,000 physicians by 2020 and the overall shortage could worsen as the physician workforce ages and retires just as more Americans will need care. The AAMC says a reason for this shortage is that primary care clinicians earn less than half of what the top two earning specialties make, and medical students often choose to enter the higher-paying specialties, rather than primary care, when faced with their medical school loans.
Seventy-eight percent of U.S. medical students have a student loan debt of $100,000 or greater. In 2010, medical students graduated from public institutions with an average debt of $148,222 and $172,422 from private institutions.
To apply for the CityDoctors scholarships, applicants submitted essays explaining why they should be awarded this scholarship and how they will contribute to the health care of New York City using their attending position in primary care at an HHC hospital.
For more information and to apply for a scholarship, visit the City- Doctors website at www.citydoctors.com.
