The Satter Foundation Scholarship Fund enables recipients to graduate from medical school without debt, reducing pressure to choose high-paying specialties. The scholarship also helps students concentrate fully on their studies; many recipients find they have the time to do research, volunteer at a clinic, or take advantage of other opportunities that may help them become better doctors. After graduation, Satter scholars have gone on to residency programs across the country in internal and family medicine, radiology, plastic surgery, otolaryngology, and other specialties, many of which are experiencing shortages because debt-laden young doctors can’t afford to pursue them.
Patrick Hurley, a scholarship recipient in his fourth year, says the scholarship enabled him to choose psychiatry, the field that truly most interested him, without having to weigh the financial ramifications. “I am immeasurably grateful to the Satter Foundation for this opportunity. Without its support, it would be so much more difficult for me to go to medical school, and in particular to go into psychiatry,” Hurley says. “I hope to spend my career working with underserved populations that are still stigmatized.” What’s more, Hurley points out that the evolution of health care means that doctors increasingly act as team managers and leaders.
“We aren’t just treating patients; we’re now expected to be their advocates and contribute to policy discussions,” he says. Programs such as the Satter Scholars not only invest in training a medical student, he says, they “invest in creating leaders.”