For Minority Physicians

Thirteen students receive Minority Scholars Awards

In an effort to promote diversity within the medical profession and encourage students with a commitment to eliminating health care disparities, the AMA Foundation awarded 13 outstanding medical students from across the country with $10,000 scholarships through the Minority Scholars Awards program.

The Minority Scholars Awards recognize scholastic achievement, financial need and commitment to improving minority health among first- or second-year students in groups defined as historically underrepresented in the medical profession. Today, only about 9 percent of U.S. physicians are Hispanic, American Indian, African-American, Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian.

This year's Minority Scholars Awards recipients are:

• Michael Blanco, SUNY at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
• Lizbeth Brice, Wayne State University School of Medicine
• Shekinah Elmore, Harvard Medical School
• Kessiena Gbenedio, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine
• Shermeeka Hogans-Mathews, Florida State University College of Medicine
• Teresa Martin-Carreras, University of Central Florida College of Medicine
• Marissa Mendez, University of Vermont College of Medicine
• Eriberto Michel, University of Washington School of Medicine
• Brittney Pryor, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
• Marcus Rushing, University of Kansas School of Medicine
• Maria Sandoval, Keck School of Medicine of USC
• Darien Sutton-Ramsey, New York University School of Medicine
• Elliot Twiggs, University of Minnesota Medical School, Twin Cities

Each year, the AMA Foundation awards several Minority Scholars Award scholarships in partnership with the AMA Minority Affairs Section (MAS). This year, the AMA-MAS Governing Council generously provided a $5,000 match to help the AMA Foundation raise enough money to award an additional scholarship.

If you would like to support the Minority Scholars Award program, please visit the AMA Foundation website to make a donation.

Attend this year's NMA annual meeting

Join your colleagues in attending the National Medical Association's (NMA) annual Convention and Scientific Assembly, which will take place July 28–Aug. 1 in New Orleans. Network with other physicians, participate in hands-on activities and attend seminars addressing critical concerns for a variety of medical specialties.

The AMA Minority Affairs Section strongly encourages physicians to attend this meeting to further enhance their clinical knowledge and to take full advantage of the specialty workshop sessions.