Christian Messa

Herzog Foundation contributes additional $1 million to scholarships that benefit UTMB medical students

Grant will bolster UTMB’s efforts to help students who shoulder debt after graduation

GALVESTON, Texas — Medical students who have overcome economic and educational challenges to attend the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have received a major endorsement for their dreams to become physicians after the Carl J. Herzog Foundation contributed an additional $1 million to scholarships at the academic health center.

The grant will augment the Carl J. Herzog Foundation Medical School Scholarship Endowment and increase the number of four-year scholarships awarded to students from disadvantaged backgrounds who might be financially discouraged from attending medical school — the average educational debt for graduating UTMB medical students was $77,000 in 2003.

The Herzog Foundation has been helping to address student debt by boosting its number of scholarships. One hundred sixty-seven students have benefited from the Herzog Foundation scholarship endowment since its establishment in 1993.

Dr. Stanley M. Lemon, dean of UTMB’s School of Medicine, said the Herzog Foundation contribution reinforces the university’s commitment to its students. “The Herzog Foundation is well-known for its uncompromising support of medical education,” Lemon said. “This generous gesture illustrates the foundation’s dedication toward ensuring that all students have the opportunity to attend medical school.”

Ada Cuellar, a second-year medical student and the first from her family to attend college, said she is grateful to receive a Herzog Foundation scholarship. “When I found out I received it, I was extremely happy,” she said. “I called my parents in Weslaco to tell them, and they were so excited. I would have gone through with getting my medical degree without the scholarship, but my debt would have been huge.”

Once she graduates and finishes her residency training in cardiology, Cuellar said she wants to return to her hometown in the Rio Grande Valley to practice medicine. “I want to go back to Weslaco because, while growing up there, I saw how the citizens needed better access to health care. My grandparents didn’t have health insurance or much money, so they had a hard time seeing a doctor.”

Dr. Lauree Thomas, UTMB associate dean for student affairs and admissions, said the Herzog Foundation scholarships allow medical students like Cuellar to someday provide health care in medically underserved communities, where many residents are among the working poor who must rely on Medicare or Medicaid to cover their health care. Because the federal insurance plans do not pay physicians as much for their services as private insurance, few doctors —especially those still paying off student loans — choose to remain in those communities.

“Since Ms. Cuellar will leave school with less debt, going to an area where she will earn less for her medical services won’t be as much of an issue,” Thomas said. “That’s why the Herzog Foundation is making such a big difference, by providing scholarships to help make medical school more affordable for students. The big picture is that the foundation is helping so many people who would otherwise go without health care.”

First-year UTMB medical student Shawn M. Allen will also play a role in ensuring that more people in medically underserved areas receive proper health care. The Herzog Foundation scholarship recipient said he plans to serve as a primary care physician in an inner-city neighborhood after he completes his residency. “Receiving the Herzog scholarship has allowed me to take my mind off my money-related fears and focus on academics and community volunteering,” said Allen, the first member in his family to finish college or attend medical school.

In addition to providing financial assistance for its students, UTMB features innovative instruction. The university’s integrated medical curriculum — involving a mix of conventional lectures and small-group problem-based learning that combines basic science disciplines — has helped increase student test scores on the Step 1 U.S. Medical Licensing Examination to well above the national average.

The Herzog Foundation was founded in 1952 to promote education and medical research, with an emphasis on dermatology. It has been a major UTMB supporter for almost 20 years, contributing $5 million to such endeavors as scholarship endowments for educationally and economically disadvantaged medical students and other academic and health care programs.

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