Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield Primary Care Scholarship
In December 2010, Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield awarded a $1,000,000 grant to the University of Arkansas Foundation, Inc. for the benefit of establishing a permanently endowed scholarship within the UAMS College of Medicine, given in honor of the Board of Directors of Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield. The purpose of the endowed scholarship is to provide financial assistance to junior and senior students enrolled in the UAMS College of Medicine who meet the following eligibility criteria: 1) Applicants must currently reside in Arkansas and have strong ties to Arkansas, as determined by the UAMS College of Medicine Scholarship Committee; 2) Applicants must have a stated intent to pursue primary care through the study of family medicine, general internal medicine or general pediatrics; 3) Applicants must have a commitment to practice primary care in Arkansas, with scholarship preference given to those interested in locating and practicing in rural areas of the state; 4) Applicants must attest that they are not related to persons who are serving at the time of the application as officers or directors of Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, members of the Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas System, the Chancellor of UAMS, or members of the UAMS Chancellor’s Cabinet. The selection of the recipient shall be the responsibility of the Dean or his or her designee, in accordance with the scholarship review process established by the College of Medicine.
Arkansas Gastroenterology Endowed Scholarship
Steven A Clift, M.D., a member of the College of Medicine Class of 1977, established Arkansas Gastroenterology, PA, in 1982. This physician group feels it is important to give back to the school that helped mold their careers. They hope recipients of this scholarship will become humble and compassionate physicians who will manifest high ethical standards in their chosen profession and through their future community and volunteer service. The inaugural award was given in 2002.
Ryan Gibson Endowed Fund for Excellence in Medical Education
The Ryan Gibson Endowed Fund for Excellence in Medical Education was established in honor and memory of Ryan Gibson, an outstanding medical school applicant accepted for early admission in December 2000 to the Class of 2005. Ryan dreamed of becoming a physician and biomedical researcher but passed away before his classes ever began. The Ryan Gibson Fund will be used to strengthen and enrich medical education through programs that encourage scholarship, innovation, and discovery among students and faculty of the College of Medicine. The inaugural award was presented in 2002.
Jack and Ida Byrne Kennedy Scholarship
Dr. Jack W Kennedy, a physician in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, established this scholarship in 1995 through an endowment. It was Dr. Kennedy’s desire to provide funds for the academic enrichment of the Henderson State University pre-medical program and to encourage and support student scholars in their first year of studies at the College of Medicine. Members of the Henderson State University chemistry faculty serve as pre-medical advisers and nominate the Kennedy Scholarship recipients. The inaugural award was presented in 1995.
Bruce Lee and Brandon Lee Medical Scholarship
An Arkansas family donated a scholarship endowment to the College of Medicine in memory of the actors Bruce and Brandon Lee. The scholarship is awarded each year to a senior student selected to concentrate a portion of his/her academic studies to developing a dissertation on ethical and human values issues concerning their clinical experience. The donors, who actually became friends with Bruce Lee’s widow, were impressed not only by Bruce Lee’s screen acting and martial arts skills, but also his depth of knowledge in various academic fields. His studies in philosophy, psychology, literature, physical culture and Asian life have been widely published. Bruce’s son, Brandon, followed in his father’s footsteps pursuing academics, martial arts and drama until he was killed in a tragic accident while filming his first starring role in a major feature film. The donating family desires that preference in selection of dissertation projects be given to ethical and human concerns of cancer patients and their families. Students are eligible to apply for this scholarship during their junior year. A review committee selected by the Director of Medical Humanities will choose the recipient. The inaugural scholarship was awarded in 1996.
Dr. Jerry D. Morgan Memorial Scholarship
Dr. Jerry Morgan, who graduated from the College of Medicine in 1965, dedicated 33 years to serving patients in Stuttgart and the surrounding area. His goal was to provide quality medical care to the people of rural southeast Arkansas. He helped build a medical center that provided the latest in technology, yet preserved a small-town atmosphere. His family, along with his colleagues, loyal patients, hospital administration and hospital board members, created a scholarship in his memory after his death in 1999. The scholarship is awarded to medical students from Arkansas, Monroe, or Prairie Counties who have tentative plans to return to those areas to practice medicine. The inaugural scholarship was presented in 2000.
Parents Club Scholarships
The College of Medicine Parents Club was established by parents of medical students in 1976 with the purpose of improving the quality of lifestyle for medical students. The club was organized at the request of Dr. Tom Bruce, Dean of the College of Medicine, and with the aid of Bill North and his assistant Judy Smith, in the Office of Community Medical Affairs. In 1984, Tom South, Director of Student Financial Aid, College of Medicine, began serving as the liaison between the College of Medicine and the Parents Club. The Parents Club Board of Directors voted in 1994, under the leadership of Linda Moore DuPuy (1994-1995 Parents Club President) to establish a scholarship fund for medical students and to begin providing annual scholarships. These scholarships are made possible by the fundraising efforts of the parents of students in the College of Medicine, namely by the proceeds from the Annual Silent Auction and Preview Night and the Arkansas Repertory Theatre. The Parents Club was initially able to offer three scholarships per year, chosen by class vote. Each class is asked to vote on the day of registration to select the member of its class who serves as the best role model for fellow students. The scholarship ballots list the following criteria: “The Parents Club Scholarship will be awarded to a medical student who, by acclamation of their peers, ‘parents’ their medical student classmates by demonstrating compassion, empathy, integrity, encouragement and character by modeling these characteristics of an ideal physician in interaction with their classmates.” In 2001, the Parents Club began awarding four additional scholarships per year – to a senior, junior, sophomore and freshman – on the basis of financial need. The College of Medicine Scholarship Committee selects these recipients and tries to give preference to medical students who have children – and so are a parent themselves. In 2015, under the able leadership of co-presidents Debbi Boye and Jo LunBeck, the Parents Club Board of Directors voted to award a grant of $100,000 to the UAMS Foundation Fund to perpetually endow a scholarship for the benefit of UAMS College of Medicine medical students.
Parents Club / Judy L. Smith Scholarship
In June 2002, the College of Medicine Parents Club Board of Directors voted to recognize Judy Loftin Smith upon the occasion of her retirement, for 27 years at UAMS. Each year, a freshman medical student is selected by the College of Medicine Scholarship Committee to receive the Parents Club / Judy L Smith Scholarship based on academic excellence, character and financial need. In 1975, Judy became secretary to Mr. Bill North in Community Medical Affairs in the Dean’s Office. In 1976, Dr. Tom Bruce, Dean, asked Mr. North and Judy to help organize the Parents Club “to improve the quality of lifestyle of our medical students.” In 1984, Mr. North retired and Judy began working with Dr. Chris Hackler in Medical Humanities. At that time, Dean Bruce asked Mr. Tom South, Director, College of Medicine Student Financial Aid, to join Judy in working with the Parents Club—the only “graduate-level PTA” in Arkansas, and one of the very few organizations of this nature at any medical school in the United States. Judy also served as a liaison with the UAMS Student Advocacy Council, a peer support group that works closely with the Medical Student Wellness Program to keep students from falling prey to substance abuse, depression and other stresses. Judy’s uncle, Kenneth Carter, received a career enabling $100 college scholarship in 1926. He and his wife later endowed a scholarship at his alma mater, Baylor University, proving that scholarships once given can be repaid many times over. The inaugural award was presented in 2000.
Parents Club / Linda DuPuy Scholarship
The Parents Club of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine was established in 1976 “to improve the quality of lifestyle of medical students.” Under the leadership of Linda DuPuy, Parents Club President, 1994-95, the parent of Debbie Cerrato, M.D. , Class of 1995, the Parents Club established a scholarship fund through the sponsorship of an annual Preview Night at the Arkansas Repertory Theater. Proceeds from the annual performance, as well as a Silent Auction held in conjunction with the preview night, fund the scholarships. Three of the seven scholarships are awarded annually to a senior, junior and sophomore selected by a vote of his/her classmates. In May, 2001 Linda DuPuy joined the College of Medicine Dean’s Office as an Admissions Management Project Analyst. However, she quickly moved up the ranks to become Assistant Director and ultimately Director of Medical Student Admissions and Recruitment. During her fourteen plus years at the College of Medicine, she served as the liaison between the Parents Club and the Dean’s Office. Upon the occasion of her retirement in February, 2016 after assisting over 2,500 prospective medical school applicants to realize their dream of becoming a physician, the Parents Club Board of Directors voted on March 4, 2016 to honor Linda for her 14+ years of service to the University of Arkansas College of Medicine and 25 years of involvement with the Parents Club, by naming the scholarship awarded to a senior medical student the Parents Club / Linda DuPuy Scholarship. The recipient is a senior medical student who “parents their classmates by demonstrating compassion, empathy, integrity, encouragement, and character through interaction with their classmates.” In announcing her retirement to the College of Medicine Dean’s Office, Tom South, Assistant Dean, Medical Student Admissions, shared “I do not have adequate words to express how much Linda has meant to fulfilling the mission of the UAMS College of Medicine admissions office through her visionary leadership, exemplary work ethic and love of applicants and students.” It is fitting that in her letter of resignation to Dr. Richard P. Wheeler, Executive Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Linda shared “I will forever be grateful for the opportunity you have provided me to make a small contribution to the process of selecting and educating our future physicians. I have been richly blessed to be able to work with and learn from each of you and with those wonderful, hopeful applicants who apply for a seat in the freshman class each year. My life is enriched from the experience.” Then, demonstrating her perpetual bold spirit of enthusiasm and optimism, she ended her letter with a quote from Mark Twain: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” The inaugural Parents Club / Linda DuPuy Scholarship was awarded in 2016.
Emeline Vincent Scholarship
Emeline Vincent was a resident of Clay County Arkansas who died in 1967. Her will expressed her intention to provide for the education of lineal descendants of her parents, Samuel B Vincent and Elizabeth Cox Vincent and to benefit the University of Arkansas School of Law and the University of Arkansas School of Medicine. In the event there are no lineal descendants attending the University of Arkansas, scholarships are awarded to the two schools. Selection criteria are determined by the College of Medicine Scholarship Committee. The inaugural awards were presented in 1994.