Paul G. Ramsey, M.D. Endowed Scholarship for WWAMI Idaho Medical Students
Please address your letter to:
Dr. Allen
Suzanne M. Allen, M.D., MPH was born and raised in Bremerton, Washington and is one of five children and the only member of her family who is a physician. She attended the University of Washington where she received her undergraduate degree in biology. Dr. Allen also completed a combined MD/MPH program at George Washington University with an emphasis on disease prevention and health promotion for her MPH degree. She had an Air Force Health Professions Scholarship which paid her tuition and living expenses during medical school. Dr. Allen completed her residency training in family medicine at Malcolm Grow Medical Center at Andrews Air Force Base, and her first duty assignment was at Ellsworth Air Force Base where she was the director of the emergency room as well as the health promotion program on base. After two years, Dr. Allen returned to Andrews Air Force Base as a faculty member at the family medicine residency program, helped begin a combined family medicine/psychiatry residency program and worked with the health promotion programs on the base. Upon leaving the Air Force, she became a faculty member at the Family Medicine Residency of Idaho (FMRI), a UW School of Medicine affiliated family medicine residency program, where she has been since 1999. Dr. Allen was as the assistant residency program director and medical student clerkship site director at FMRI before becoming the assistant clinical dean for the Idaho WWAMI program in 2006. In 2009, she became the UW Medicine vice dean for regional affairs, a position which she still holds.
Throughout her career, Dr. Allen has been involved with the American Academy of Family Physicians, holding a number of state chapter positions as well as serving on committees and commissions at a national level. She has also become more involved with undergraduate and graduate medical education organizations since she has been in Idaho. Dr. Allen currently serves on the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education’s residency review committee and on the steering committee for the Association of American Medical College’s Group on Regional Medical Campuses.
Dr. Allen believes it is a privilege to care for others and hopes to inspire physicians in training to appreciate and enjoy the privilege of caring for patients. Being the recipient of a scholarship made it possible for her to attend medical school, and Dr. Allen hopes to help someone else attend medical school through this scholarship.