Celebrate Scholarship

Your generosity helps train tomorrow's physicians and improves the health of our WWAMI region

Thank you for your generous support of scholarships, which is making a meaningful impact on aspiring physicians and the health of our families, communities, region and world.

I invite you to explore this webpage, where we share inspiring student stories that capture — in their own words — how your giving is helping the next generation of physicians.

Not only are you helping students overcome the financial barriers to pursuing a medical degree. You’re also offering them the opportunity to choose careers in family and primary care medicine and/or work in underserved communities across the WWAMI region where providers are desperately needed.

We’re so grateful for your generous investment in the next generation of physicians and the health of our communities!

With gratitude,

Tim Dellit, MD
Chief Executive Officer, UW Medicine
Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs and
Paul G. Ramsey Endowed Dean of the School of Medicine, University of Washington

Meet Our Students

Returning to My Community
“Scholarships have the potential to encourage more people, especially from small towns, to realize it’s possible to go to medical school in the first place,” says Wyatt Bowles. “I intend to bring all the education and experiences I’ve gained to provide care that my community can trust and rely on.”
Wyatt’s story >>

From First Responder to First-Generation Medical Student
“Thanks to scholarships, I’ll be able to choose to go into family medicine and serve a rural community, which doesn’t pay as much, and not have to worry so much about the cost of my education,” says Kathryne Mitchell.
Kathryne’s story >>

Discovering the Courage to Pursue My Dreams
“Scholarships have allowed me to pursue my education and forge my own path without any hesitancy about finances,” says Sarah Busch. “My goal is to pay it forward to future generations of hopeful students, especially those who are institutionally underrepresented in medicine.”
Sarah’s story >>

Husky 100
Each year, the Husky 100 recognizes 100 UW undergraduate and graduate students who are making a difference on campus, in their communities and for the future.
Meet the UW School of Medicine’s outstanding students of 2023 >>

Meet more students whose lives have been changed thanks to scholarships.

Explore their stories

Celebrate Achievements

We recently celebrated first-year medical students during our annual stethoscope ceremony, a reunion of WWAMI alumni and Match Day where students learned where they will continue their medical training.

Alumni Who Are Giving Back

Many of our generous scholarship donors are alumni too! Learn why they’re paying it forward.

Joan “Mutt” Dickson, MD ’97
Joan “Mutt” Dickson, MD ’97, knows first-hand how critical it is to expand opportunities for the next generation of medical leaders, especially in rural communities like the one she serves. That’s why she’s established a scholarship for medical students in Montana.
Read why she’s supporting scholarships >>

James Monahan, MD ’58
James Monahan, MD ’58, wanted to help future medical students achieve their dreams. So he decided to make a bequest in his will establishing a scholarship fund in honor of a benefactor who’d paid for his own medical school education.
How he’s making a difference >>

Richard Baerg, MD ’65
Richard Baerg, MD ’65, wouldn’t have been able to go to medical school without financial help. After retiring, he and his wife Judith decided to help ease the financial burden for other medical students by supporting the Class of 1965 Endowed Scholarship Fund through an existing IRA.
Why he’s paying it forward >>

Your Giving, Your Impact

Your dedicated support prepares students to care for our communities across the WWAMI region — Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. From increasing access to care, to helping address the physician shortage in underserved urban and rural areas, your generosity has helped:

Improve our community’s health: Graduates return to their home states to practice medicine at a rate above the national median.

Launch new programs to prepare physicians to serve in both rural and urban underserved populations, increasing access to healthcare in historically marginalized communities.

300%

Increase our MD scholarship endowment by more than 300% in the last 10 years, allowing us to distribute $4.3M in awards to deserving students each year.

Provide support for service learning programs, helping medical students make a difference in community healthcare through advocacy, clinical service and health education, outreach and mentorship.

100

Address the physician shortage: One in six physicians at UW Medicine is a resident or fellow, and over 100 graduating residents and fellows accept faculty roles within UW Medicine each year.

Provide access to medical education for students who self-identified as disadvantaged (24.5%) or come from counties designated as rural (23%).

1,550

Support exemplary graduate medical education, including 1,550 residents and fellows participating in 112+ residency and fellowship programs in the WWAMI region.

Thank You

Your generosity makes all of this possible. Thank you for your commitment to the health of our communities and your steadfast support of our medical students.

Learn more about what’s happening at the UW School of Medicine:

A donor-supported program is helping psychiatry residents bring culturally humble telehealth care to the Lummi Nation.
The Health Sciences Education Building was recognized with a national design award for its ‘innovative approaches to education, sustainability and construction.’
UW Medical School students in Spokane have a new anatomy lab on the Gonzaga campus where they can get hands-on training with human body organs and systems.
The new Center for Behavioral Health and Learning will open in 2024 to help transform mental health care and improve training for mental health providers in our state.