NYC Health + Hospitals, St. George's University Medical School Award Nearly $2 Million in "CityDoctors" Scholarships to NYC Students Committed to Practicing Primary Care in Public Health System
Dr. Ram Raju Urges Medical Schools and Other Health Systems to Adopt Similar Model Programs to Address Growing Primary Care Physician Shortage
Jan 07, 2016
NYC Health + Hospitals President Dr. Ram Raju today announced 17 students who under the CityDoctors scholarship program will receive scholarships worth $1.8 million to attend St. George’s University School of Medicine. In return, the students have committed to give back to their communities by practicing primary care medicine in NYC’s public health system after completing their medical educations. Dr. Raju cited this scholarship program as a model and urged other medical schools and health systems to make similar investments to address the growing shortage of primary care physicians in NYC and the US.
“As our population ages, and as health care reform orients itself around a preventive care model, more primary care physicians will be sorely needed,” said Dr. Raju. “I call on other medical schools to work with the public health system to develop programs such as CityDoctors, which will expand access to primary and preventive care for the populations that need it most. Medical schools as well as health care providers have a moral and ethical obligation to create the physician workforce that will be needed in the future.”
“St. George’s is proud to support these students with a CityDoctors Scholarship and we congratulate them on their success,” said St. George’s University Chancellor Dr. Charles Modica. “Their commitment to practicing medicine in the City of New York provides them with a unique ability to have an impact not only on the health of individuals, but on the overall public health of the city.”
“Through the CityDoctors HHC Scholarship Program, these students have the opportunity to train and practice in the city they hold near and dear,” said Dr. G. Richard Olds, President and Chief Executive Officer at St. George’s University. “In doing so, they will follow in the footsteps of the SGU graduates who have given back to the city and to the people of New York by providing high-quality primary care.”
CityDoctors was launched in 2012 to help address the shortage of primary care physicians and to increase educational and career opportunities for local youth. The scholarship recipients have been selected based on their academic excellence and financial need, and will receive either partial or full scholarships to pay for medical school tuition for periods of up to four years, with some scholarships valued at more than $200,000 each.
The program has helped a total of 82 students from in and around NYC attend medical school on the equivalent of 38 full scholarships, and, in return, 152 years of needed primary care services have been committed to NYC’s health care system. In total, more than $11 million in medical school scholarships are expected to be awarded under CityDoctors.
The 2016 class of CityDoctors Scholarship Program recipients are a diverse group of women and men, representing all five boroughs. Many winners hold undergraduate degrees from prestigious institutions including Baylor University, New York University, Tulane University, and Johns Hopkins University. Scholarship recipients have done research, interned, and volunteered at various NYC hospitals including New York-Presbyterian, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NYU Langone Medical Center, and those within the NYC public health system such as NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull, NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County and NYC Health + Hospitals/Sea View.
To be eligible for CityDoctors scholarship, students must fulfill all the requirements to be accepted to medical school and also meet at least one of the following criteria: graduated from a NYC high school; have five years of residency in NYC; have a parent employed by NYC Health + Hospitals or the City of New York; or be employed themselves by NYC Health + Hospitals 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 11 hospitals within the public health system. Several of the students have already completed part of the medical school educations, while others are beginning their studies this term.
The 2016 CityDoctors scholarship recipients are:
| Name | Residence | Full/Partial Scholarship | Commitment to NYC Health + Hospitals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adeniyi Adedotun | Manhattan | Full | 4 years |
| Shelley Persaud | Bronx | Full | 4 years |
| Fayeza Aliou | Bronx | Partial | 2 years |
| Alice Basin | New Jersey | Partial | 2 years |
| Tomasz Wasik | Bronx | Partial | 2 years |
| Tania Kahn | Queens | Partial | 2 years |
| Genna Pearl | Queens | Partial | 2 years |
| Karen Lou | Brooklyn | Partial | 2 years |
| Benjamin Kahn | Manhattan | Partial | 2 years |
| Michelle Rivera | Queens | Partial | 1 years |
| Kristen Roy | Staten Island | Partial | 1 years |
| Shamriz Tamanna | Queens | Partial | 1 years |
| Rasheedat Yussuf | Staten Island | Partial | 1 years |
| Kandace LaMonica | Bronx | Partial | 1 years |
| Vanessa Pierre-Louis | Brooklyn | Partial | 1 years |
| Nadya Chowdhury | Queens | Partial | 1 years |
Bios and photos of the scholarship winners can be found at:
/hhc/html/feature/CityDoctors-Scholarships-2016.shtml
The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has estimated that nationally there will be a shortage of approximately 20,000 primary care physicians by the year 2025. Research published in the Annals of Family Medicine suggests the shortfall may be more than double that. The AAMC says a reason for this shortage is 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.
To apply for the CityDoctors scholarships, applicants must submit essays explaining how they will contribute to the health care of New York City using their attending position in primary care at a hospital within the NYC Health + Hospitals system. For more information and to apply for a scholarship, visit the CityDoctors website at www.citydoctors.com.
Contact: Press Office: Ian Michaels, 347-327-1793
St. George’s University: Carline McCann, 631-665-8500
About NYC Health + Hospitals
NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest public health care system in the nation with a network of 11 hospitals including six regional trauma centers, community-based health centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, and a correctional health services unit. The system includes a home care agency and a health plan, MetroPlusHealth. The health system provides essential services to 1.2 million New Yorkers every year in more than 70 locations across the five boroughs. Its diverse workforce of more than 42,000 employees are uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. Visit nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected: https://www.facebook.com/NYCHealthSystem or Twitter @NYCHealthSystem.
About St. George’s University
St. George’s University School of Medicine pioneered the concept of international medical education and remains at the forefront of educating students to meet the demands of the modern practice of medicine. St. George’s University was the first private medical school in the Caribbean, and is accredited by the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions (CAAM-HP). Its students have come from over 140 countries and its more than 13,000 graduate physicians in the global health care system who have been licensed in all 50 states and Canada and have practiced in over 50 countries around the world. For more information, visit www.sgu.edu.