Also today, Councilman Jumaane D. Williams and the New York City Council honored the CityDoctors program with a proclamation, recognizing its work to address the looming shortage of primary care physicians.
“We are very proud of our ongoing partnership with St. George’s University, as it provides students with strong ties to the New York City area with an opportunity not only to continue their education, but to have job security following graduation,” said Machelle Allen, MD, Chief Medical Officer, NYC Health + Hospitals. “The program also helps bring more primary care physicians into the workforce and into communities across the city, where they are so desperately needed.”
The 2017 class of CityDoctors scholarship recipients are a diverse group of women and men, representing Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Manhattan, as well as Florida and Pennsylvania. Recipients hold undergraduate and graduate degrees from a range of prestigious institutions, including New York University, Columbia University, New York Institute of Technology, University of Texas, Hunter College, and the University of Rochester.
“We look forward to equipping this year’s class of CityDoctors with the skills and knowledge to serve the five boroughs for many, many years,” said Charles R. Modica, Chancellor, St. George’s University. “Each scholarship recipient shows tremendous promise, and with their dedication to medicine, New York City, including its underserved communities, will benefit from the high-quality care that they will assuredly provide.”
“St. George’s University has long addressed the US doctor shortage by producing highly qualified physicians who are committed to their community and the practice of medicine,” said Dr. G. Richard Olds, President, St. George’s University. “We are proud to offer these CityDoctors scholarships because it helps pave the way for these students to practice in areas that are near and dear to them, and areas that need such physicians the most.”
The CityDoctors scholarships program is designed to attract and educate the best and brightest students to become doctors committed to serving in urban hospitals. The collaboration between St. George’s University and NYC Health + Hospitals 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.
To be eligible for the NYC Health + Hospitals 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 New York City high school or university; have five years of residency in New York City; 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.
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