Katherine Williams Selected as Choose Ohio First Scholarship Recipient

2013 Dec 10

Katherine Williams, a first-year medicine student in the College of Medicine at Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED), has been selected as a 2013 recipient of the highly competitive Choose Ohio First Scholarship Program, issued by the State of Ohio. Williams is from Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and a graduate of Cuyahoga Falls High School and Kent State University.

The Choose Ohio First Scholarship Program is designed to award Ohio colleges, universities and those institutions' business partners that have developed innovative academic programs to recruit and retain Ohio students in the STEMM (science, technology, engineering, math and medicine) disciplines by providing scholarship funding to students pursuing education and career opportunities in these fields.

Choose Ohio First Scholarships available to students pursuing careers in medicine are designed for those students who are committed to a career in primary care in the State of Ohio. Six students in the NEOMED College of Medicine were selected for the 2013 scholarships, following three awards granted to NEOMED medicine students in 2012.

"NEOMED is pleased to announce the new recipients of the 2013 Choose Ohio First Scholarship," said Erik Porfeli, Ph.D., assistant dean of community engagement and admissions, and program director for Choose Ohio First at NEOMED. "These students have a demonstrated commitment to serving the needs of our medically underserved communities, and I expect will become future leaders of primary care in Ohio. We are proud to have them as part of the NEOMED family and grateful to the Ohio Board of Regents for supporting these students with such generous and needed scholarship program."

The Choose Ohio First Scholarships provide $30,000 per year to offset tuition costs and, provided terms and conditions are met, can be renewable throughout the students' academic career.

Following graduation from the College of Medicine, scholarship recipients must complete a residency in family practice, general internal medicine, general pediatrics or internal medicine-pediatrics in Ohio as well as commit to practicing in Ohio for no less than three years after residency.

The Choose Ohio First Scholarship Program aligns with NEOMED's Education for Service initiative. This initiative strives to improve the health and economic vitality of the Northeast Ohio region by supporting students from Ohio, and particularly its medically underserved communities, and providing health care to these students' communities upon the completion of their training.

By engaging Ohio communities in supporting students' progress and reducing financial barriers, students are encouraged to become future primary care physicians in medically underserved areas. Education for Service scholarships are designed to provide tuition relief to students in exchange for a commitment to serving in an urban or rural underserved neighborhood following graduation.

To learn more about NEOMED's Education for Service initiative, visit https://www.neomed.edu/about/EFS.

Northeast Ohio Medical University is a public, community-based medical university and academic health center with a mission to improve the health and economy of Northeast Ohio. For 40 years, NEOMED has worked in collaboration with its educational, clinical and research partners to successfully train health professionals and medical researchers who serve and impact the region and beyond. The University trains students in a team-based, interprofessional environment and offers doctor of medicine (M.D.) and doctor of pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degrees, in addition to master's and doctoral degrees and research opportunities in other medical areas. Still burning bright after 40 years; visit www.neomed.edu/40.